Welcome! (again)

Re-Introducing: the Chrysalis.

The purpose of this blog is to provide a safe place for writers to grow and develop. As a community, we can help each other become better writers, both through honest constructive criticism and through mutual encouragement and inspiration.

Whether you:

• simply want to share something you've written,
• are looking for feedback,
• have a question about writing, or
• just want to share some thoughts on your own writing process,

we welcome you to the Chrysalis.

For an invitation to become an official member of the Chrysalis, please send an email to: balmandblade@gmail.com

If I Were a Famous Musician, This Would Be My Application to the Club

IIIx

Sinope concluded that the absence of passion

was better than incomplete passion

and I tend to agree,

though I’ve been known to digress.

But I can never wander far

from the truths and the riddles:

“When every bone in your grip is broken,

your weeping will be quenched.

When you are out of outs,

you will find your way in.”

IIIx

Twenty seven new books

and twenty seven old letters

stuffed into an envelope

with a Claude Pepper stamp:

a warning – a blessing – from

the lips of Abbé Faria, eleven

years too early, never too late.

III.

I take a stand, open

to amendments, fundamentally

opposed to closing my eyes

or staring straight ahead.

All around, possibilities

and dead ends.

All around, the madness

of beautiful uncertainty.

The Convergence of Our Lives

I really like the quote we used on our latest bookmark:

"Everyone has three lives: a public life, a private life, and a secret life." (Gabriel García Márquez)

We live our lives in these layers. As people get to know us and as we allow them to get closer to us, they progress past our public life and towards our private and sometimes even secret lives.

The fascinating thing about writing, though, is that when we write we tend to bypass this expected progression. I've found this to be especially true of creative writing. Through my writing, I end up sharing profoundly personal thoughts and experiences with people I don't even know, who I may never even meet. These people, who are barely even on the radar of my public life, are invited to enter into my private and secret lives through the written word.

As writers we often chose to break the rules of social etiquette for the sake of artistic expression. Or, perhaps it is for a deeper reason. Sharing our writings allows us to wear a broken mask, covering just enough of our face that we feel comfortable sharing, yet exposing just enough that we are able to share in an honest, compelling manner. I believe we share, not just for the sake of sharing, but in hopes that we will connect with someone out there, and in doing so that we will feel less alone. We find solace and meaning in shared experiences. We find purpose in being able to say, "I've been there too... don't give up, you can make it through" and "I've experienced that too and isn't it grand!"

Through writing, our lives converge. That is what Chrysalis is all about. We come here to share, to invite others into our lives and to be a part of theirs as well. And perhaps somewhere in this clumsy encounter, we will find something more than the mere exchange of ideas.

Welcome!

Introducing: the Chrysalis.

The purpose of this blog is to provide a safe place for writers to grow and develop. As a community, we can help each other become better writers, both through honest constructive criticism and through mutual encouragement and inspiration.

Whether you:

• simply want to share something you've written,
• are looking for feedback,
• have a question about writing, or
• just want to share some thoughts on your own writing process,

we welcome you to the Chrysalis.

For an invitation to become an official member of the Chrysalis, please send an email to: balmandblade@gmail.com