Rejection

Last week I received a kind rejection letter, likely the first of many. It read, "Although we will not be publishing your essay, we wanted you to know that we found much to appreciate in it. Several staff members mentioned the beauty of the language as well as the apt and colorful descriptions of landscape. I thought the last collection, the tops-of-trees items, was a very poignant one - a great end to an essay that shows how collections reveal the collector's life. Please do try us again." While I was grateful for the compliments, I also would have liked some constructive criticism and more input as to why they were not publishing it. Perhaps, as my husband said, it just didn't fit in with the other essays they'd already selected, or perhaps it was too similar to ones they already had. Or perhaps they were looking for something entirely different. At any rate, it was nice to at least hear back from them! The little writing I've done has taught me that writing is so much like visual or musical art - a continual process of working toward balance and good design, a strong composition, tweaking fine points.

Speaking of rejection, Frederica Mathewes-Green recently published this essay on consumerism. I found the last half particularly useful. It also made me feel a bit better about my mind-numbing hours of sewing lately, although it also confirmed the emotions I've had while shopping too much as of late as well. Do you have any good resources for overcoming the consumeristic drive?

Photos: Our Bradford pear in winter, my sweet potato vine (part of 100 Leaves Project) the day before the frost got it this week.