Ironically I had just emailed my sister about this very topic earlier this week. She had commented to me recently that I must 'get recognized' when I'm out at the grocery store because of the column I write for the paper (that usually includes a picture of me and my kids). I explained to her that writers sometimes don't really know who is reading their stuff.
Rarely do I read something myself, something that touches me or impresses me, and have a chance to tell its writer that I was moved by his/her effort. So the fact I don't get much feedback from my weekly column doesn't really surprise me. I hope someone is enjoying it but don't actually hold my breath.
So today, as I checked books out to a mom with her young daughter, I was totally shocked and deeply touched when the woman recognized me and said these words, "I just have to tell you, I love reading your column. I look forward to it each week and so many times I am thinking about something and you write it out so perfectly in your column."
Again, I was shocked. Actual feedback from an actual reader. Someone is out there. Someone does read the words I send out to the universe every week. I have had a few neighbors comment that they see the column sometimes, and the kids have comments from teachers who read it (which horrifies them, of course, and leaves them begging me to not write about them.) But every now and then, when the comments come, they are appreciated.
Each and every one of them spurs me on. It gets me back to this desk chair and back to that blank screen. I write because doing so keeps me sane. It's just really nice that every now and then what I write can speak to someone else too.
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