Resistance Writer
The most poignant of the unwittingly revealing prefaces of a story that ends badly begins with, “All I wanted was . . . ” This morning, as I was oscillating between the dozing and waking states, there popped into my stream of consciousness the recognition that maybe —just maybe —on a day in which I had nothing else scheduled, I could get some writing done, without interruptions. Fortunately, I’ve a place I can get away to occasionally, as near to a scriptorium as I can hope to find within easy reach. (That fact alone qualifies me for cosmic wrath. Who am I to upset the balance of nature by striving for an unqualified good?)
But I discovered that my nearby writing refuge wasn’t available today. Consequently, I was “all dressed up with no place to go.” That is, my satchel of writing gear was in my hand, my writing ideas were in my mind, and my expectation of a fulfilled desire for writing held the reins of my heart. I was determined not to return home dissatisfied and empty-handed, or in this case, empty-paged. What to do? Answering that question should not have been difficult. All I wanted was a quiet place to write.
The Shops in the Mall
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Robert McTeigue is host of The Catholic Current, airing on The Station of the Cross Catholic Media Network. His latest books from Ignatius Press are Real Philosophy for Real People: Tools for Truthful Living (2020) and Christendom Lost and Found: Meditations for a Post Post-Christian Era (2022).
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