The Maze

An Alterntive

As a writer I realize I’m in a maze. And somewhere inside it is my goal, a shiny award, a certificate of authenticity. I can choose to travel the pathways, to double back when I meet dead ends. In fact, I’ll meet constant dead ends, each labeled with a rejection – “doesn’t fit,” “try again in the future.” It’s always them, not us, but that story becomes less believable with time. The maze is cold as the insides of a mouse, squishy organs in a ball of fur. Each path that’s labeled “almost” keeps you going, only to be dashed by a dead end. You throw money in the air for contests, editing, open reading fees, but your wallet bursts into flames. As this is happening, the shiny award gets shinier, and you’re more frustrated you aren’t any closer. You get older and it feels like your best chances were a while ago. You’ll sit and die in a maze, because even if you gain some award, you’ll be placed in a new maze you have to turn through. What I’m proposing as an alternative may not work. It may have the same material consequences as the maze. But I would separate myself from the maze from the beginning. To float over it all, with no expectations, so there are no consequences. Continue to submit work to journals, enter contests, but realize nothing is under your control. The path you take isn’t in a maze, but is a line glowing with peace, a walk through a gentle woods. You let nothing good or bad affect you. And if you die without goals achieved, they weren’t the real goals. You didn’t have to walk that maze. No one does.