This past weekend marked the end of my third residency for graduate school. January
2nd, I started my journey to New Hampshire's White Mountains for a week of peer review, craft workshops, faculty readings, and in a way, a family reunion. I was able to see the people who've become my second family and meet others who share the same passion: writing!
I know I've written about the absolutely amazing program that Southern New Hamsphire University's MFA has to offer and the things I've said before stand true now. So I guess what I want to write about instead are mountains, or rather, that mountain view that is still so clear in my head.
Arriving at the Mountain View Grand Resort is like seeing a vibrant painting for the
first time. It's thrilling and oh so colorful and I can't quite get the feeling of it out of my head. As the week goes on and I escape into its rooms and its smells and the atmoshpere of being around so many writers, the image of the MVG starts to fade. Upon leaving, I always feel like I'm left with the black and white memory of the entire trip. It's as if the whole place has been stripped of the color and initial vibrancy. But I still have the image of the mountains in my head and the sound of the wind as it whistles over land forms reaching toward the sky. It's what fills my heart with enough inspiration until the next residency.
This time around felt much more emotional than any of the others. My first residency, a year ago, was stressful and a little bit scary. The second felt rewarding and enriching, getting to see all of my writer friends again. Yet this being my third residency, I couldn't get the idea that I only had one more out of my mind. Knowing that most of my friends will graduate next June filled me with a kind of emptiness that was completely nonsensical. The realization that I have quite a bit of work to do until the next time I return also filled me up. All of these feelings kept me full until I thought perhaps my bones might break beneath the weight of it all.
Now that I'm home, I feel inspired and ready to tackle the work ahead of me this semester. But I still have the sense that my memories are fading into snapshots. They don't feel as real now that I'm gone. The mountains are no longer there to tell me, it's okay, you will write. You're a writer so you will write. I have to tell myself instead. So maybe that's why I felt compelled to tell you about that mountain view. I'm not really sure.
I am, however, sure that this program continues to give me all the resources a writer could possibly want. I'm able to discuss other people's work and to gain feedback on my own. I'm able to bond with friends and peers and faculty and feel apart of something. Getting to talk with past mentors about my progress and having the chance to discuss my future with a new mentor is so rewarding. And getting to talk about books! That's the cherry on top. I actualy talked so much about Aaron Starmer's The Riverman (you can find my review here) that my past mentor gave me an ARC of the sequel. I'm making my way through The Whisper as slow as possible because I don't want it to end and I feel so lucky that I get to read this before its March 2015 debut. Just another perk I suppose!
I can't wait to return to the Mountain View Grand next June, to see friends who've become
family, to talk about writing and books, and to look at those beautiful mountians that continue to remind me of strengh; mine and theirs. It's the closest thing to perfection I've been able to find. So until next time, I'll think about that mountian view and just keep writing.
xoxo
K.K.