REMEMBERING MY WRITING

Writing has been with me since the early days of the Martin Smoothchatter skits in Chiswick. During this spiritual childhood, Morphon was published in the Arts Centre magazine within 6 months of “hitting bottom”, and Hexoto just after I started teaching. Hexoto was sent to a publisher getting a polite rejection, none of Pirsig’s perseverance for me – that was the last time my writing has been near a publisher’s office.

Writing was subsumed under compassion’s intensity and the drink’s destructivity. There was one novel at the end of my first teaching job, Lidors, and one at the end of my second teaching job, Kirramura. But that was all in my spiritual childhood.

I think I retired early to write although the rationale at the time was to study Buddhism. Once retired Matriellez’ book natural education came out, then Zandtao’s Treatise. Ongoing learning and observation were reflected in blogs, but creatively has seen the completion of three novels – The Sannadee duology Baengoi and Sannadee and The Arico Chronicles. Honiti was rushing off the press but has been sidelined by Tolle and Buddhism. Once I awakened as a mature adult, I was a writer.

After Africa’s mid-life review Buddhism came to the forefront. Writing in Africa was not utilised creatively but by my M Ed. A job change was necessitated financially, and fortunately I only had to work 6 years in those appalling international schools (and 1 UK year) before an inheritance enabled me to retire early to be a writer. As a mature person teaching was never truly of interest. Life became so much more about the holidays and returning to those hellholes became harder and harder despite the more experienced professional outlook. Teaching belonged more to my spiritual childhood than to the mature adult, but I spent so long as a teacher that fact has been obscured. The compassion and vocation of teaching was a meaningful expression of growing awakening but mature expression is through writing.

By thoroughly examining this awakening process I have determined my proper place as a writer – fascinating. It is the first time I have seen the teaching as a form of spiritual adolescence – mainly because it was my career and lasted 30 years. Having said that I still have fun teaching the kids especially my 4 new lovers. But I am a writer.