Celebrate

March 9, 2011 at 9:51 am (Random Thoughts)

 

I love the movie Trainspotting (and need to watch it again now that I know who Kevin McKidd is) but one of the things I love best about it is the beginning, where Renton (a stunningly beautifully fucked-up Ewan McGregor) is running from the cops, and the voiceover is this poem. (I’d post a YouTube of it, but I can’t find one that works for me.) Obviously, this has always stuck with me, the sight of Ewan’s crazy grin as he’s caught, the cadence of choose life, all of  it. It may not be Irvine Welsh, but here’s my version:

Celebrate the first word. Celebrate the last. Celebrate every line written that wasn’t there yesterday. Celebrate the successes. Celebrate the failures. Celebrate every scene even if it doesn’t match GMC. Celebrate the queries, celebrate the rejections. Celebrate a friend’s contract and celebrate the dreams of yours. Celebrate every edit, celebrate every perfect line. Celebrate those who understand you. Celebrate those who don’t. Celebrate your plans to write ‘NYT Bestseller’ on every Christmas card once you’re there. Celebrate the thinking, the planning, the plotting, the waiting. Celebrate the crazy downhill runs with nothing to catch you. Celebrate your writing space, celebrate your writing style. Celebrate your processes and all of the crazy shit that makes you hum. Celebrate it all.