I'm late posting this, but on Sunday I drew a new card from the Poet Tarot deck. The card was the Six of Quills. You might note the card on the left has a lady standing in what appears to be a trophy cup.
I think what this lady is saying to us is that in our creativity we all need to seek victories in all sizes. It could be publication in an online venue or it might be scoring an acceptance for your work in one of your very favorite print journals. It could be a contest or the publication of a full collection of poetry. When we have these victories no matter the size, we can encourage others by sharing what has been achieved. Not in a gloating manner but in such a way that others in the community can celebrate with you and benefit from the encouragement of success.
I honestly have never been jealous over another writer's success. I'm all too into celebrating their achievement. It also reminds me that those milestones are real and can happen to others. How frustrating would it be if every poet was busy writing and submitting and no one you knew ever had work published. You would soon feel the whole process was feudal. You efforts would seem worthless and you might well convince yourself to quit.
I don't think the Six of Quills wants us to gloat, but I do believe she wants us to share the good news. I have known people in other walks of life that are pretty self-centered but thankfully at least among the poets I know, this seems to be a rarity. The day I get bent out of shape over someone's good news related to their poetry is the day I need to walk away from writing it.
Obviously the Six of Quills values our writing communities as she sees it important for us to both example and encouragement. This takes me back to last week and the Seven of Mentors. Since drawing that card I have been contemplating attempting to put together a work-shopping group to share work on a routine basis. I'm mulling over persons to approaching about this. It is an ongoing result of the last card I drew.
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