18 February

Q&A

2002, 2011

I like to think that the answers to most, if not all, of my questions are in my journals from the last 35 years, but today I was fortunate enough to ask the question on the same day I answered it, nine years earlier.

I’d been trying to figure out how to post something – a poem, a photo, an essay, even one good sentence – here most days, which means sorting through all the possibilities far enough in advance that if any modification is necessary – and it usually is – I can give that the time it requires.

I was reading everything I’d written on 18 February over the years, and I came across this note from 2002: I can scarcely believe how easy it is to clearly state what I want and then go about discovering that I’ve done it, gotten it, often beyond my wildest dreams.

I realized that the one thing I hadn’t done was clearly state what I wanted, which I proceeded to do. I wouldn’t say I’m beyond my wildest dreams quite yet, but I have a plan, which is more than I could say yesterday.