17) Join an established society.

Just when I was beginning to doubt my self-worth and abilities (ever so briefly!) the Good Lord gave me such an amazing day.

First off, the sun rose with a special flair. This morning was just brilliant. Coupled with our Bible Study’s weekly prayer breakfast, I couldn’t have gotten off to a better start.

Once in town for the day I dutifully made my way to Northpoint, a favorite coffeeshop of mine, where I vowed to finish The House with the Green Shutters before seminar, which I did. Thankfully, my study session was broken up by a rather unexpected conversation. A man sitting at the next table, intently reading his newspaper, happened to look up from the headlines and I broke my concentration at about the same time. I offered a slight smile of friendship, thought nothing of it, and went back to reading. Then the man, perhaps encouraged by my smile, politely asked what I was studying. I told him English and, hearing my accent, he asked if I was American. Apparently it wasn’t the voice, but the smile which gave my nationality away. We Americans are apparently very smiley. Turns out, this chap was from Ireland and very friendly. We talked, all very mundane topics, for about ten minutes and went back to our perspective literature. It seems very simple, but I was so happy that another human being chose to make some sort of conversation with me. Special moment!

I was also very happy to finish up that novel before class. What a sense of accomplishment! Special moment number two! Of course, I have another book to tackle and essay to finish before Friday at noon. A day at a time, I must remind myself.

Now, to the society bit! I attended a Creative Writing Workshop this afternoon which was a part of Inklight, St Andrews’ creative writing society. I paid my £3 membership fee and – shabam! – I’m now a member! The session was about dialogue in fiction and I, again, realized how labor intensive writing can be. For a skill which comes naturally to me, most days, I have to remember that my first several drafts will be complete rubbish. Recognizing flaws can be a painful, but necessary, part of the writing process. Hearing the experiences of another writer was not only enjoyable, but also helpful. I’ve said it before and will say it again, Scotland has been utterly inspiring. With any luck, Inklight will be amazingly helpful to my meager writing endeavors. And yet, the crème de la crème to my day happened this evening.

St Andrews is a portal for academics of all types to come together and share ideas, as is any respectable university. What I love about the level of student involvement at the University of St Andrews is how many people can gather around fairly specific subjects. Tonight, I sat in a room full of twenty-five women, we nibbled on cheese and crackers, sipped wine and lemonade, and listened to a talk given by a lecturer on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. That’s right, for fun I went to an English lecture and had a blast. I have no desire to attend graduate school at this point in my academic career, but I would certainly be content to attend events like this one forever. Her talk gave me such a new and exciting insight into Austen’s work. I’m even more excited about my upcoming pilgrimage to Austen’s house and the Jane Austen Centre over Spring Break. What an amazing author, truly. And Elizabeth Bennet, what a character! We’re the same age at this particular moment in time. If only I had her quick wit and clever turn of phrase!

Still have a good bit of Humphry Clinker to tackle and that looming essay due on Friday. Why does every enjoyment come at the expense of something else? Until then!