by Pamela Heemskerk
It seems the fame of the legendary Quirky Quills has spread
beyond Toowoomba, and even Queensland.
How little I realised back then, how much impact a
supportive group can have on developing your writing gift. Some of us were rank
novices to writing—lacking courage to even show our cat what we had written;
others were, like the Man from Snowy River, fast becoming a household name.
I was talking to Mazzy, one of our QQ, recently, and she said
QQ was like her ‘church’—a place of love, care and nurturing of gifts. It
reminded me of the parallel between our walk with the Lord and developing as
scribes. As the Quills met, with encouragement, teaching and nagging (what was
that word?), along with some serious hand-holding, we sent off works to
anthologies, devotionals, and even competitions. And some were accepted!
Showing your writing is like baring your soul. I felt so
vulnerable, writing from the heart, and then exposing it. Scary. Yet from this,
I learnt that others related to my experiences. I learnt about taking risks,
stepping out. And I learnt resilience—that first rejection … Ow! And then the
second … And then a few more …
As I grew as a writer, I grew as a person. I learnt to persevere,
to motivate myself, to be disciplined and to take responsibility for developing
my craft—just as I have learnt to take these same steps in my walk with God. He
is my source of inspiration, directs my writing goals, and stretches me (ouch),
to show how much I can achieve when I work in partnership with Him.
Although I am yet a relatively new writer, I am past coddled
eggs and milk in my own journey. I have wanted to give back to the writing
community. When I renewed my 2019 Omega membership, I again saw the motto, and
this prompted me to continue meeting with other writers in our locality.
Now, as a person with a hearing impairment, I am well aware
of the effect words have when they are received; and the lack of effect, or even
the negative effect, when they are not received. Sometimes I don’t hear
important things; sometimes I miss out on a crucial part of the conversation
and it leaves me bewildered and unable to follow. Lost words have no impact on
my life; worse they can have a negative impact because I missed hearing
something really important that would have made a difference.
I figured that if I was having trouble with using hearing
aids, then there’d be others. My struggles with hearing prompted me (with some
badgering from a friend), to put my experiences on paper. I realised through
this, that I could turn my frustrations and negatives around hearing loss into
something positive. And eventually, with support from QQ and Omega, it became a
book. I hope it has helped someone.
WORDS THAT CHANGE THE WORLD
I was meditating on these words – and the Lord put on my
heart that there are writers whose words are not changing the world. Their
words are sitting on a computer, or in a drawer and not doing the thing for
which they were purposed. How like unused hearing aids! Hearing devices are
meant to enrich our lives, to help us participate fully and be involved in our
world. They are to help us move forward in our lives again. But they take
practice, perseverance, and sometimes some support from other users. We
sometimes fail, or feel self-conscious or embarrassed about using them.
Just as a user of hearing aids takes risks in learning a new
way of living, will you as writers take the risk? Will you persist? Will you
move forward into your calling? Will you chance letting your words ‘change the
world’? Or will you play it safe, carefully preserving your ‘one talent’ on a
USB?
Now, I’m sure the USB retailer will have appreciated the
sale. But words are far more powerful than a few dollars at the shop. Your
words can make or break the health and wholeness of another; those timely words
can transform a life. Your gift of writing can
make a difference. Will you seek support, take courage, and put your words
out there?
Who knows, one day someone might come up to you and say, ‘Your
words changed my world’.
Pamela Heemskerk is a physiotherapist, writer and jigsaw addict. She acquired a hearing loss during her first year at work and has worn aids for approximately 30 years. After many conversations, where others who are hard of hearing reported similar issues, she decided it was time to fill the information vacuum by writing 'Rather a Small Chicken ... A Guide to hearing Loss for Family and Friends.
Hi Pamela, it must be so rewarding for you QQ girls as a group to add to the piles of great writing which are going out into the world. It was great to read this message today, and I like your analogy about the unused hearing aids. On a personal level, my teenage son was recently prescribed a hearing aid to help him with his studies, when he realised that as you say, he wasn't getting the full effect of words he should be taking in.
ReplyDeleteHi Paula, thank you - indeed it is amazing to see something in print! We are so blessed to have a supportive group. Oh, I do hope it all goes well for your son. He would understand missing words very well.
DeleteWhat a lovely challenging and beautiful post Pamela. Thank you for sharing. Well done Quirky Quills. You are all inspiring. Well done Pamela on the book you published - I have no doubt you have blessed many with it. And I do love the challenge you give us - that we need to get our work out there and take risks with it. I'm struggling these days to make my days more productive and have dubbed this week as the week my writing will take off for 2019 - finally! :) So your words are the impetus I need to take it all to a new level. Thanks so much for the encouragement and the gentle push! And blessings on your writing journey. A lovely post!
ReplyDeleteHi Anusha. THank you so much. It is a huge help for writers to have a support person or group - just to give us courage!
DeleteOh, that must be hard. It's challenging to be brave with our writing without extra challenges. I have had to lean so hard on the Lord for strength some days.
ANd yes, we declare this is the week where your writing for 2019 takes off - in Jesus' Name.
Now hopefully this will go up - I thought I wrote a reply and it disappeared... Invisible ink?
Thank you Anusha! I am convicted that writing is going to be really important in days to come.
ReplyDeleteIt is so hard to get to that writing - and with extra challenges, even harder! I have had to really lean on the Lord for strength some days. And -Yes - this is the week where your writing will take off. Blessings to you
Thanks so much dear Pamela for agreeing with me and being expectant. I will lean into your expectancy. :) Much blessing and no - both responses did arrive. So it's all good! Thanks again.
DeleteWhere would we be without our legendary Quirky Quills! A great post Pamela. And challenging. As you know I am one to “bury my talent” just like you said .....so a reminder and a challenge is always needed.
ReplyDeleteYep, we all need a challenge (I think...!)
DeleteOne day, Janelle, that talent will be there for all the world to see! What an exciting thought!
Lovely clear, challenging post - thank you! My husband has hearing aids and I know I sometimes get impatient with him rather than taking the time to speak in ways he will hear. I also have friends with cochlear implants - I so honour them for persevering through all their struggles to hear and to function as part of the community. I know they would applaud your efforts with your book, Pamela, so well done!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jo-Anne. Hearing loss impacts everyone around - not just the one who doesn't hear well - and that can be tiring for you too. We call it 'Listening Fatigue', and it affects both parties. Yes, an award to all those friends who struggle on with cochlears and hearing loss.
DeleteThanks for sharing that, Pamela. What a great analogy between missing those lost words without hearing aids and losing words by having our manuscripts sitting in a drawer or on a USB stick. I still have a lot of material sitting around my office. Maybe I need more nagging. And what a blessing it has been to have you and the other Quills for support all these years. I think one thing we learned is that it doesn't have to be big. You don't have to start with a whole novel or nonfiction book. Just one devotion or poem could touch someone with a message they need to hear today.
ReplyDeleteThis morning in my Quiet Time, I was reading the part in Hebrews 5:12 where the writer says 'In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!'. Although this was talking about maturity as Christians, I think it could easily apply to writers. It's easy to go to writing groups or conferences, enrol in writing courses, read writing books etc. But it does no-one any good if we don't actually write and get it out there. Thanks for the reminder.
Thanks, Nola. We all have UFOs sitting around (unfinished objects)...and I'm just as guilty. But I'm happy to nag someone else ....heh heh.
ReplyDeleteWhat a good thought - it is about getting out there and doing - not just hearing and hearing, and hearing, and still chickening out.
Without a supportive group, I'm not sure I would ever have written a thing. So thanks to all the writers who have helped me along the way.
UFOs - Unfinished objects - love it :)
DeleteYes, I, too, have a selection of UFO's (Unfinished Objects) - some are notes, some are ideas, and the biggest UFO of them all is me. However, as God seems content to keep working on me, I will likewise persevere on the other UFO's in my life. Thanks for a terrific post, Pam.
ReplyDeleteI loved your analogy - words that are buried : hearing aids left in the ‘F’ drawer, Frustration. (My husband has both a cochlear and a hearing aid, and without either of them, he is buried in silence.). Have we become deaf to the call to write?
ReplyDeleteNothing has gripped me more since the day of our last writing group when The Lord pointed out to me that my talent was buried and it was time to dig it up. The realisation that precious words are buried in computers or flash drives, or even fleeting thoughts... and are not being invested in His Kingdom. I cried in shame and repentance. His judgment on those who have buried the creative talent He gave them, is very, very severe. And will there be those who miss out on the words entrusted to us for investment by our Eternal Creator? How can they hear, unless we send our words? How can the deaf hear, unless they wear their aids?
Have we become deaf to the call of The Lord to dig our talents up?
I knew when I was 12 that I had a call on my life to write. It’s 53 years later and that buried talent might have rusted into the earth, but I’ve dug it up spiritually and put on my hearing aids in the Spirit...