The Rejection Garden- An introduction

     A new project for the BLOG- Coming in MAY of 2023

"Rejection is more valuable than inaction. All that I have learned until now has been because of rejections. Inaction didn't teach me a thing." 

-Neeraj Agnihotri, Procrasdemon- The Artist's Guide to Liberation from Procrastination

THE REJECTION GARDEN

    It’s been a lot of years of rejection. Nothing new to any writer who is sending out submissions, but during the pandemic, rejection felt heavier.  There was no getting out to connect with other writers, get support, share frustrations, and learn new things. There were constant at-home interruptions, so good luck actually sinking your teeth into something new.

    So, what happens when depression waits for you every day? 

    I stay busy, create, make, explore, and when those things aren’t available, I spiral.

    In order to survive, physically, mentally, spiritually, and creatively I had to find a non-writing project to focus on.  Enter, remodeling… first, it was the kitchen. Learning how to tile was fun, designing the layout, installing the cabinets, and finally rehoming all of my teas into a proper tea drawer, brilliant.

    Next, building my husband an office, outside, with a deck, under a canopy of the forest, in rainy frigid February… fantastic challenge.

    Most recently inside, helping my dad reconfigure the 1970’s deathtrap interior stairs.

    It was my gardening (IE taking a barren, knee-weed-deep, laurel-covered, uneven backyard) that really pushed me. Reclaiming, sculpting, and planting seventeen of my, been in pots for decades, Japanese maples gave me the most joy and I soon called it my rejection garden. Similar to a Zen Garden but functionally creatively different.

    Depressing you might say? No. Definitely not. One, I am addicted to Japanese maples, they simply make me happy, so seeing a hillside covered in them, is, well… soul-affirming and of course pleasing to look at.    

    Instead of taking all the names of agents or publishers and placing them under trees, I took the titles of the books I have written. I found some really beautiful copper name tags and handwrote each title out.  You have to really look out there to notice the tags, but I know they are there and when I read them, it makes me smile.

    The Rejection Garden is less about rejection and more about creativity, persistence, and joy. Over the next month, I am going to share one Tree or Manuscript with you, not in its entirety, instead, I’ll post a synopsis, how many times it has been rejected and then, I’ll finish with my favorite line and include a picture of the tree and name tag.   

 

    I hope walking through my garden is fun, maybe even inspiring. I’ll enjoy posting and thinking back on each story, character, and inspiration.