Rejection

Rejection happens to everyone. I am told most dashing handsome men get rejected as well. I know that's hard to believe but the point is we all face rejection at some point in our lives. Whether it is in relationship, job, love, life or death. Really, death! Well, let me tell you a story: there lived a man who wanted to die. He prostrated himself on a train track on hearing the train whistle but the train changed its track and he was saved. He gobbled a dozen tylenol pills but was saved by his neighbor who happened to walk his dog at 1 AM. The neighbor liked to peep through others' windows. He saw our sad friend dropping on the ground and called 911. The message here is, we don't get what we are not destined for, and that sadly includes death.

Another type of rejection that happens only to writers (and poets) is refusal of publication of their stories/essays. Two days ago, one of my stories was rejected by an online journal. I wasn't particularly sad although I didn't write much in the last two days. I usually write when I am not on a busy vacation jam packed with sightseeing exercises or in the hospital seeing patients. So this clearly was unusual. This gave me a chance to review some of the behavioral constructs I had read in one of my Public Health courses. How important positive reinforcement is for my writing such as getting accepted for publication? My first creative writing teacher at Newberry Library in Chicago used to say, "you should never aim for publication." And I have heard it over and again, creative writing should be done for the fulfillment of one's creative hunger and no material gain, whether its money or fame. I agree with these statements but I feel they are incomplete. Getting accepted for publication in my opinion means your work has been appreciated and understood by someone other than you. It will be read and discussed in places above and beyond your mind and your room. It will hold a heart and shake a pulse. Somewhere far away, it will take you with your words. You will form timeless and ageless connections with others. After all, isn't this the reason we write, isn't this the purpose of our writing; to form a connection with other human beings, our surrounding and may be with a higher being?

Welcome

Welcome to my blog. Sometime ago, I felt I needed to step out of my room and give more space to my words. They can get really cramped in my journals. Reading others' blogs and commenting on them gave me the idea to connect with others by writing my own blog.

My name is Parul Kaushik. I am a physician, a writer, a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister. And today I add another title to my name, I am a blogger.