No rest for the weary.

'One day you look at your life and it has purpose. And someone that makes you feel very special. And friends. And it's like all of the sudden all of the time and pain that it took to get there...just doesn't matter anymore' -- Payton Sawyer, One Tree Hill

Came home early today, to avoid having overtime at work this week. Put under house arrested by waiting for the Geek Squad to come work on my LCD TV, I debated napping or being productive. No rest of the weary here, I decided to finish my essay for the Real Simple contest. The task was to write an essay that answered in 1500 words or less, 'When did you first realize that you had become a grown-up?'.

I had walked away from my essay over a week ago and thought nothing of it since. Reopening the document this afternoon to find that I had written my soul into that essay. I admit to being a somewhat sappy and sentimental writer to begin with (you should see my journals from middle and high school). This is different. There's a piece of me in this essay, one that is rarely if ever, shown to the world. When I reread it I was surprised, I hadn't seen it in the writing when I first put the words to page.

Great writing spans emotions, does it not? In a 1000 words you can see my heartbreak, courage, insecurities, and finally my triumphant success. Whether or not it will win over the judges of the contest, I won't know for months to come. To me however, the essay is already a prize-winning writing because I managed to put into words thoughts I have never successfully conveyed with my spoken words.

The contest isn't over until September but in the future I'll keep you posted. Also, if it doesn't get win, I'll post it here.

Love,
B