Life

Comment I just posted over on Ana's blog:

I think dealing with the crap in our lives is much like writing a book or story or novel that is good enough to be published. (I know, that sounds weird, but just a second... it gets weirder and then it makes sense. At least it does in my head!) The crap that happens to us is the bits and pieces of the written work that need to be either cut out, rewritten, or otherwise dealt with in order to create a cohesive, coherent story. When you write that first draft, you just put the words on the page. You flow. You don't worry about what's good and what's not, though you do tend towards flowery passages that will have to be edited or rewritten later on. Once you've finished the piece, you put it away for a while. At least two weeks. You need distance in order to edit and rewrite. When you pull it out again, you go over it with a fine-toothed comb and mark up the manuscript with a red pen, cutting whole paragraphs and even chapters as you go. When you have your second draft, you put it away again. And you write a third draft, a fourth draft, a fifth draft... sometimes you enlist the opinions of your friends, or people in a writing support group, to help you refine the work. Some authors never write their final draft; the piece is always in transition, always metamorphosing from one thing to another. Other authors eventually sigh, throw their hands up in despair and send it out anyway, even though they know it's not quite ready yet. Editors (once it's accepted) send it back with comments and suggestions and changes, and there is yet another version of the piece in existence. Our lives are like that. Crap happens to us. And we deal with it. Then we put it away and gain a little distance. Eventually we pull it out again, and go over it with that red pen, marking it up and deciding what we need to deal with this time around. And we cycle through in this manner, occasionally enlisting the help of friends, members of support groups, and professionals along the way. Our lives will never be finished. There is no point at which we will be able to say, "My life is finally perfect and I have dealt with all of that crap from when I was younger." But at the end of our life, we will have to throw up our hands in despair and tell God that we did our best and we hope He liked it.