I've been working on a biography of Mary Todd, and American woman who left the US in 1964 at the age of 23 and spent her life in Cuba, becoming the island's foremost English translator. A lot of research on Cuba, and on Mary, has gone into every chapter, and I often feel that the project is taking too long. While curiosity about Mary's life under the changing difficulties of Cuban socialism drove me forward until recently, perhaps because I now know a lot, even curiosity hasn't always been enough. So I've told myself that I will finish by spring 2024. But how much do I have to do each day to meet that goal? And do I do enough? Although the answers to those two questions are unknowable, I suppose that I'm lucky that my questions are balanced by a sense on most days that I'm doing what I can. I take a walk or do yoga on most days to keep my body and soul open, which I believe is connected to what and how I write. Recently I took out time to rewrite a couple of early chapters. The work offers its own ever-evolving challenges and demands, and I can only be attentive to them, and to try to solve what needs to be solved.
The wise advice you offered your student is exactly the kind of life changing advice my 7th grade language arts teacher gave me. I’d been the slowest reader in the class, the last student to raise her hand after completing a silent reading assignment. My teacher saw the look of horror on my face when I realized everyone else had finished long before me. She bent down and whispered something to the effect of, “Good for you. Keep savoring every single word.” I went on to become a journalist and biographer, immersing myself deeply into the research, the stories, and the subjects.
After college, before I became a journalist, I worked at a soul-sucking advertising agency. It was there that I, too, felt that everyone read faster than me. I asked the HR department if they’d subsidize a speed reading course if I could find one. I didn’t, but they wouldn’t have paid the tab anyway. I wasn’t cut from the same cloth as my corporate minded peers, and I struggled for years in that environment.
Today, I’m a memoir coach and lead Write to Heal workshops designed to slow down and process life.
I’m doing what I was meant to do. It just took me awhile to find my footing. I’m so happy I did.
And I never forgot the words my teacher said about savoring every word.
I've been working on a biography of Mary Todd, and American woman who left the US in 1964 at the age of 23 and spent her life in Cuba, becoming the island's foremost English translator. A lot of research on Cuba, and on Mary, has gone into every chapter, and I often feel that the project is taking too long. While curiosity about Mary's life under the changing difficulties of Cuban socialism drove me forward until recently, perhaps because I now know a lot, even curiosity hasn't always been enough. So I've told myself that I will finish by spring 2024. But how much do I have to do each day to meet that goal? And do I do enough? Although the answers to those two questions are unknowable, I suppose that I'm lucky that my questions are balanced by a sense on most days that I'm doing what I can. I take a walk or do yoga on most days to keep my body and soul open, which I believe is connected to what and how I write. Recently I took out time to rewrite a couple of early chapters. The work offers its own ever-evolving challenges and demands, and I can only be attentive to them, and to try to solve what needs to be solved.
The wise advice you offered your student is exactly the kind of life changing advice my 7th grade language arts teacher gave me. I’d been the slowest reader in the class, the last student to raise her hand after completing a silent reading assignment. My teacher saw the look of horror on my face when I realized everyone else had finished long before me. She bent down and whispered something to the effect of, “Good for you. Keep savoring every single word.” I went on to become a journalist and biographer, immersing myself deeply into the research, the stories, and the subjects.
After college, before I became a journalist, I worked at a soul-sucking advertising agency. It was there that I, too, felt that everyone read faster than me. I asked the HR department if they’d subsidize a speed reading course if I could find one. I didn’t, but they wouldn’t have paid the tab anyway. I wasn’t cut from the same cloth as my corporate minded peers, and I struggled for years in that environment.
Today, I’m a memoir coach and lead Write to Heal workshops designed to slow down and process life.
I’m doing what I was meant to do. It just took me awhile to find my footing. I’m so happy I did.
And I never forgot the words my teacher said about savoring every word.
Ruth always inspiring thank you!