Desperately Seeking Spirit

Some days I just don’t want to do it anymore. Do you have days (or weeks or months) like that? It’s been particularly bothersome lately. I can’t ever put my finger on what has me down.

Even though I can’t figure out why I’m out of sorts, sometimes something new shows up to reinvigorate you. I had thought earlier this week that part of what was wrong was that I was trying (as always) to probably do too much.

But then, last night, an old friend messaged me with something of a job opportunity.

My husband, Pete, and I are game nerds, you see. He likes video/computer games and board games. I like card games (the old-school kind) and role-playing games. Every other Friday we play in one of these, run by our friend, Lou. With him and our friends at the local board game café we play Dungeon Crawl Classics. It’s a hysterical, character-death-filled good time, complete with bizarre seven-sided dice. (They DO exist!)

I was not expecting anything to come out of this biweekly activity for me other than some fun gaming with people I like every now and then. But as I said before, last night I got a surprise message about a business venture from our Dungeon Master that revolves around the game.

I didn’t hesitate to plunge in, not even having test the waters as it were. A new writing chance in a new, challenging format appeared and I took it. While Lou had said he needed my “particular skill set” to help him, along with my need to see things through to completion, I hadn’t needed qualification of his choice. The face that he wanted to trust me as a partner on our writing adventure was all that I needed to suddenly feel rejuvenated and ready to go.

There was a quotation I’d seen in a Google search last week when I was trying to get some inspiration about our monthly theme of “spirit.” Looking back on it this morning, I think it has come to fruition:

“Be thankful for what you are now, and keep fighting for what you want to be tomorrow.”

The taste of getting something published (in print, no less!) in August got the bug in me to try to get more of my work out there for others to see.

Here’s my chance. I’m not going to miss it.

My spirit is full and focused on the future.

Marcie Herman Riebe

Marcie is a bilingual caseworker by day, a university adjunct by night, and an aspiring writer at times in between. An import to NEPA, she has been active in the arts for many years from theatre to forensics to music. Her interest in the arts continues as founder of Ink, an area writer's group, a founding member of Voce Angeli (NEPA's only all-female chamber choir), and as a columnist for Thirty-Third Wheel. She loves all things Pittsburgh, particularly the University of Pittsburgh where she earned her Master of Arts in Linguistics. She lives in Scranton with her handsome husband, Pete, and their horde of cats: Napoleon, King Ajax, Sam, and Dean.

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