As is our family tradition, last night was spent with a small gathering at home. We used the last hour or so of 2011 to burn out old issues from the year and manifest new energies for the new year. Sitting around the fire pit, each of us wrote on a piece of wood (or two) and tossed the fuel into the already roaring flames.
Several months ago I was feeling distracted and burdened by a box of rejection letters I had sitting on a shelf in my office. I queried suggestions on FB for dealing with them and decided that burning them at end of the year sounded like the most satisfying.
There were several years when the letters were a representation that I am, in fact, a writer because I had written enough to send pieces out for possible publication and been rejected. There were several rejections for one essay that is about to be released in an anthology. Realizing that this one particular essay had to be turned away before it was ultimately accepted felt pretty good.
I kept a few letters out of the burn pile because they had specific remarks or feedback that were complimentary or that I wasn't sure I had recorded in electronic version. I keep a record of where and when I send writing out and what the basic responses were. This way of course I don't resend the same piece out redundantly.
After watching the papers burn it occurred to me that even if I missed a couple of nice words, there is simply no need to keep anything negative around. I don't need rejections to prove I am a writer. I no longer feel the need for that particular badge of honor.
So I tossed the rest in and watched them release the last of the negative energy that I know will ultimately be reabsorbed into life in general and redistributed into something more productive.
