I was a good student all through school and graduated magna cum laude from college. Most of the time I suffered from agoraphobia and social anxiety.

I lost my child and mate to cancer and my son and I share these memories together. Neither of us feel confident about the future.

But somehow the gift that God gave me, the gift of creative writing, runs like a thread from third grade to the present day. I can write poems, essays and humor, including one-liners. I have put 3 books together and now 3 more ebooks. The words flow from a source outside the mind.

I have studied spirituality up close and personal. I myself have been the guinea pig for grief. And what I have learned the most is that all I have to do is turn myself over to the creative force and it will work through me.

I am not enlightened; mainly because no one else is either. It is a word that lures people into categorizing how good they are, how saintly. And I am someone that loves honesty more than anything else.

I make no claims about being anything other than being confused, at sea and out to lunch. (I never miss a meal, believe me.)

At the current time I am on medication for neuropathy, which is a very painful condition that God threw in as an extra challenge for me. Last night I woke up feeling sharp pains in different parts of my body. Ow and double ow. The medication affects my short-term memory and I find myself grasping for words. But the pain relief is worth it.

I would like to close this Sunday night essay by saying that I appreciate readers that get me. Usually they have their own share of the cosmic downside. Maybe family problems, health problems, you tell me.

But we all have to go through incredible ordeals to learn any one grain of truth that we can serve up to our fellow man. My word of the day is “Okay.” We are are all okay. Trust me. Tomorrow is another diet, I mean another “day.” Grin.

Vicki Woodyard