By Amy Turn Sharp Sometimes you just need a partner.
Just one person who believes that you are not crazy to want to be a ________.
A person who holds the magic. And shares it.
In the 90’s I found my writing partner. Amanda.
She was effortlessly cool and beautiful and always up for an adventure. I liked to hear her stories of her daddy’s gun shop and the deep Southern Ohio life she had led. I loved her instantly. I wanted us to write together every day. When we wrote in bars and cafes it was like we were on fire. We were real writers. We were making progress and we shook our heads at each other to soothe the beasts of doubt and confusion and shame of writing down our lives. We were there together and if one of us started to feel shaky and confused about the tricky life of the artist we were beginning, the other would rally. We would hold each other up.
We were just finding our voices as writers and poets, just learning to write the words that lived in our brains and it was golden to have each other. I just claimed her. I knew she was going to be one of the important people in my life. And she was. And she is. And I know that my writing has improved because of this woman. She and I have shared cigs and beers and boys and ferry rides and journals and tears. We pass words back and forth like currency. We whisper to each other that we will be just fine if we keep going. Just keep going. I close my eyes and hear her stories. She quotes my poems. We believe that we are on the right path. We believe in each other. We rebel against the hard reality of being a writer and trying to keep going. We rebel against the rejection. The scary part of writing.
At any stage in your life, it is important to find your people. To find your beacon. Find your partners. Find your path.
Who has been on your path? Do you have a rebel sister who tells you to keep going? Who never turns off the light?
