There’s theme in my friend Shawn Smucker’s newest eBook Building A Life Out Of Words that resonates throughout. I had the distinct pleasure of being able to read this newest book, which is a collection of journals and other pieces chronicling his time in 2009 when he first began trying to make a living as a writer.
The theme that resonated (at least with me) was the idea of pursuing a life that was rich, but also practical – and not in terms of financials. In terms of experiences. It’s so easy to shrink that idea into a pithy sentence, but put into practice, it’s infinitely more difficult. Shawn’s book tackles the notion of having both and sometimes having neither — and it’s excellent when discussing both circumstances.
I think most of us feel compelled to always project success and happiness to those around us. Our lawns are always green, our bank accounts full and our relationships harmonious, so it’s refreshing to read Shawn’s honesty when none of these things were true.
Though writers will probably identify greatly with Shawn and get lots of mileage from his successes and failures, this book is more about the process and career of writing. It’s about love. It’s about faith. It’s about family. And it’s about not falling blithely into the process of life and forgetting what you want out of it.
