Chicken Soup for the Soul | Cathy C. Hall Writes

2010-09-06 08.50.16 I sat down, fingers poised to write the story about what happened last week. But then I remembered what I said at choir…

So we had this choir retreat–a long day of getting back together after a long summer break–and I raised my hand and said I wanted to tell a quick story, something that had just happened to me.

Now if you know me, you know I’m not very good at telling quick stories. I mean, I tend to have little asides and a big build-up, not to mention the occasional backstory. It’s a gift. Anyway, I told my story, and as I was heading back to my seat, I said, “Now, that’s a Chicken Soup for the Soul story!”

Yep, everyone agreed that it’d make a great Chicken Soup story. And then I forgot about the story till just this minute when I thought about sharing it with you. When bam! The Chicken Soup memory came to me and a little voice said, “Maybe you should check the website, just in case.”

I haven’t sent anything in to Chicken Soup in forever, and the last story I sent in hasn’t gone anywhere. But hope springs eternal and all that so I checked out the Possible Topics page and saw this:

Miracles and More
When Good Things Happen to Good People
All of us have experienced events in our lives that are completely unexplainable: the strange premonition that made you take a different route home only, causing you to miss an accident; the eerie feeling that you should call home… now, saving someone’s life; the mysterious communication from a loved one who has passed on. Angels, divine timing, miraculous coincidences, answered prayers, premonitions that come true. Good things do happen to good people. Please share your unbelievable and amazing stories about the unexplainable events that have occurred to you. Share the awe, the faith, and the wonder with our readers. The deadline date for story and poem submissions is August 31, 2017.

Okay, whoa. My story was one of those completely inexplicable things, an unbelievable story or miraculous coincidence if you will. So I’m afraid I won’t be sharing it here with you today. I’ve got to write it up and send it in to Chicken Soup. You saw that deadline date.

And this whole thing right here? A last minute checking of the Chicken Soup website and seeing exactly the topic I needed? It could almost be a “Miracles and More” story, too.

Just sayin’. The world’s one miracle after another, if you know where to look.

(And P.S. Maybe you have one, too. Send it in!)

DSCN5786 December seemed like the perfect time to share this quote often attributed to Picasso (but probably wrongly so. Still, it’s a fine quote, whoever said it.):

The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.

When it comes to writing, I suspect that I’m better at helping others bring out their gift than I am at my own work. And now that I’m a bit older and possibly wiser, I’m pretty okay with that.

When my daughter’s story was selected for Chicken Soup for the Soul’s Angels and Miracles, I was thrilled for her! And recently, she was interviewed about her story for the Atlanta Journal Constitution. She made a point of mentioning that her mother was a writer and that I’d helped her polish her story and encouraged her to send it in–and she was disappointed when none of that part of the interview was included. But that’s the way it often is when writers lend a helping pen. We don’t help others tell their story for the glory; we help because there’s a joy in seeing a writer succeed, whether it’s one story that needs to be told or the beginning of a long and successful career.

There’s purpose there, in the giving away. And a purpose here is that I shared something over at the Muffin this weekend that you might’ve missed. It’s just a little bit of writing advice but maybe it’ll be the start of something BIG for you and your writing!