Someone stole my newspaper today. I left this morning, a little lazy, driving right past it out of the driveway, to return, three hours later. I found the plastic bag it was packed in, ripped open at the knot and draped nicely over the split rail. The paper itself was only worth 60 cents, but I cannot let it go. Not only did the person steal my 60 cents (I am a student living off loans) they left their trash for me to pick up, and I cannot even reuse the bags like I usually do. Self justified anger sets in, then judgement. Obviously, I think, the thief must be a jerk, a literate jerk, but a jerk nevertheless. I could write a scathing Letter to the Editor, but jerks probably only read the horoscopes and lotto numbers, not the Letters. I spend precious time and energy thinking of ways to even the score. How dare someone steal from me? Do they know how nice I am? I stumble down the path to feeling violated, they were in my driveway, they had to stop and stoop to pick the paper out of the pile of leaves and dirt it was laying on. They had to rip open the bag, take the paper out and drape the bag over the fence railing. In my driveway.
● About Me
I wrote and published my first blog post on May 26, 2009. I was about to turn 36 and had been accepted to Mount Holyoke College as a non-traditional student, on my way to completing a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Medieval Studies. I had managed, finally, to know what general direction I was traveling. As a self proclaimed voracious reader I knew that I needed a vocation that would allow me to engage daily with words: reading words, writing words, and hearing words. I also needed to eat, so I navigated my way to a teaching position and I began to fine tune my craft. I love to teach and I love my students, but I also needed to continue to hone my own literary technique, voice, and style. I continued my education in order to delve deeper into literature, making connections, and most definitely, writing. I gained more confidence as a reader as well as a writer of both creative and analytical text. That first blog post in 2009 is short, the writing average, and the topic mundane, but as I continued to learn from other writers I began to understand that to become a better writer I needed to write more. Each time I write and release a poem, a post, or a story, I hone my skills. I invite you along for the ride, for this journey of mine as I attempt to wrangle a wealth of ideas and competing directions into an organized freshly paved path to publication. I might get distracted along the way, but sometimes those detours lead us to amazing views and new friends.
Laura Smith Writer 
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