Peace Cool World,
So I told you that I applied to a few summer writing workshops. My logic was that since I DIDN’T finish undergrad I could acquire the knowledge and experience to pursue my writng by using other mediums. For days I agonized over which pieces to submitt to the Solstice Summer Writer’s Conference . It took me no less than four days to write one three paragrah cover letter. I was a mess. the possiblity of rejection is a strong motivator.
While researching other writing programs and “how to write a cover letter”, I stumbled upon the Cave Canem website. Now, any “urban” poet who’s anyone KNOWS about the Cave Canem Writer’s Retreat . I’d never thought to apply. Didn’t think I was teh kind of poet they’d accept since I don’t SLAM. But for some reason, the description SPOKE to me. I ended up writing a cover letter and submitting pieces at four am one night.
So, I submitted to BOTH programs.
Today, I went to the mail box expecting to find the blackberry that I won on Ebay waiting for me. Instead, there was a letter from Solstice! My heartbeat quickened. I had that pressure in my chest that you get when your about to cry. It would be either an acceptance letter…or REJECTION. I opened it on the elevator on the way to my seventh floor apartment. The thickness of teh envelope should have been a clue. I GOT IN! YAY!
I don’t know yet if I got the Diverse Voices fellowship that I applied for. But at least I know that I got in. that in itself is confirmation for me. If I don’t get it…I WILL be slanging chapbooks for $10 a pop. If I sell sevety of them I can pay my tuition. If I can sell 100 of them, I can pay tuition PLUS room and board and meals for the entire program. I’ll also be accepting LOVE DONATIONS 
I’d been feeling like a failure. I’m twenty-nine, twenty five and other than my self published chapbook (While Dwelling in the Outskirts of Obscurity), I haven’t been published in ages. I haven’t slammed or even gotten on the open mic. Hell, I haven’t even been able to maintain my own personal blog for more than a few months at a time. I felt obsolete and REALLY considered laying down my pen and stepping away from the lap top.
Just yesterday, my honey asked me what I wanted to accomplish by the end of the year. I told him that I planned to get into one or both of the writing programs and to have pieces published in reputable literary journals by year’s end.
And today, my congratulatory letter was in the mail.
Being accepted into this program at Pine Manor College in Mass. really says something to me. It says that I am on the right path. That what I observe IS relevant. And that THIS is only the begining.
PEACE Cool WORLD!!!!
