Banana Bread and Book Readings

Risks motivate you because you are determined not to fail.

This is a paraphrase of my favorite quote of the day spoken by an absolutely brilliant author named Tayari Jones. She was the speaker at our final lecture of the evening which ended about 45 minutes ago, and I am still thinking about her words and the unbelievably motivating hour she spent sharing her journey as a writer. 

I have never been much of a risk taker. I have always chosen the safest option in any situation, and if there was any risk involved at all I would think...re-think...evaluate..re-evaluate...overthink and eventually end up sticking with the reliable option anyway. This has been the pattern in my life and it hasn't necessarily proven to be a bad thing. It has driven me to a good amount of success and made me a very realistic and responsible person. Coming to this course is the biggest risk I have ever taken, so I knew exactly what Tayari was talking about when she said this quote.

I have barely been here one week and I already feel like I have absorbed so much knowledge, and that absorption has only led to a thirst for more knowledge about this industry and motivation to succeed within it. I applied for this course because I love books and always have, and I had a desire to learn about the "behind the scenes" aspect of the business (I guess the theatre in me will always reveal itself in one way or another). But in reality, I know next to nothing about publishing. I don't like walking into situations where I am not fully informed and know exactly what to expect yet here I am. Despite my lack of current knowledge I am determined to succeed. After hearing Tayari's lecture today I am so proud that I finally took a risk. I truly think I took the right one. One that will matter.

~

I thought it would be cool to give you guys a glimpse of my everyday life here at the course, so I included photos from my seat in the lecture hall! We sit in alphabetical order so I sit in the same seat every day. The speaker typically stands at the podium and if there is a panel of several speakers they sit in the seats with the microphones.

 

  

I was also lucky enough today to have some time to venture out to the local farmer's market in the neighborhood! They had meats, breads, cheeses, desserts, vegetables...it was really amazing! I ended up buying an entire loaf of banana bread made with organic spelt flour (sounds kinda gross but if you know me, you get it). I tried to take a photo of the farmer's market but it stretched out so far it was difficult. But you can kind of get the idea from the photo below! 

Tonight will consist of eating that banana bread (yay), relaxing, watching Netflix with my housemates and most likely buying Tayari's book online because I am obsessed. She read just one chapter from it tonight and I didn't want her to stop. The story is absolutely captivating and I'm already hooked! I included the summary of her book, Silver Sparrow, below if you are interested in learning more about it! 

~

   With the opening line of Silver Sparrow, “My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist,” author Tayari Jones unveils a breathtaking story about a man’s deception, a family’s complicity, and two teenage girls caught in the middle. 

Set in a middle-class neighborhood in Atlanta in the 1980s, the novel revolves around James Witherspoon’s two families—the public one and the secret one. When the daughters from each family meet and form a friendship, only one of them knows they are sisters. It is a relationship destined to explode when secrets are revealed and illusions shattered. As Jones explores the backstories of her rich yet flawed characters—the father, the two mothers, the grandmother, and the uncle—she also reveals the joy, as well as the destruction, they brought to one another’s lives. 

At the heart of it all are the two lives at stake, and like the best writers—think Toni Morrison with The Bluest Eye—Jones portrays the fragility of these young girls with raw authenticity as they seek love, demand attention, and try to imagine themselves as women, just not as their mothers. (Amazon.com)