Faye McCray

Instant Oatmeal

I love oatmeal.
Like, really love it. 
I can be at the fanciest breakfast establishment and instantly peruse their menu for oatmeal, just to get a steamy hot bowl served to me with a plate full of my favorite toppings.  I love the texture, the smell and I love, love, love sprinkling a big bowl with brown sugar, nuts and my favorite dried and fresh fruits. 
Inevitably, I will profess my love of the stuff as I am eating – boring whoever I am with to tears with my bizarre ode to oatmeal.  I have an equally passionate love affair with granola (love Michele’s here in the DMV) so I am clearly just an oats girl.

Anyway, like any true oatmeal connoisseur, I think instant oatmeal is disgusting.  Nonetheless, I will grab a bowl from Starbucks or D&D when I am running late for work.  It’s never the same and I always (always, always, always) make it to the bottom of the bowl wondering why I ate it.  The crazy thing about instant oatmeal is that while it boasts instant results, regular oatmeal typically only takes between 3-5 minutes.  What’s more instant than 3-5 minutes?

Because my mind is constantly on writing (when its not on oatmeal), I was munching on a bowl the other day (the real kind, not the yucky one) and thinking about how it’s all a metaphor for writing.  How just taking a little bit more time can make things so much better.  Rushing just creates a watered down, mushy version of everything it could be… everything you could be.  But – like oatmeal, you don’t want to take too much time because you’ll wind up burning up the pot. 

So – crazy as my oatmeal-writing metaphors may be – chasing a dream is an exercise in patience.  Confidence, patience, and really hard work.  I am just hoping that equation will add up to some kind of success.

Lastly, this week’s quote is from my dear friend, A (she is married to a writer so she really gets it).  She sent it to me on Thursday – right after I had recieved another rejection and I was drowning my sorrows in a McDonald’s apple pie.  I finished eating it but this quote stopped me from getting another one.  I just have to share:

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. … No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.” – Martha Graham

Guys and Dolls, meet Ms. Graham.. have I mentioned how much I love art?

Love and Light,

Faye

Faye McCray

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