Dear Reader,
I hope your new year is off to an excellent start. For the last three years on this newsletter, I have sent out a new piece of creative writing every month. Everything from long short stories, to flash fiction, to poetry. This month is a poem I wrote many months ago reflecting on life.
The last three years, life has undoubtedly been challenging for each of us. However, looking back over the tremendous transitions and changes my life has gone through since starting this newsletter, I can’t help but be proud of the story unfolding, excited to see what this year holds, and tremendously grateful for the people I am privileged to have in my life.
These days, when I find myself trembling and groaning about the task ahead of me, I remind myself “I can do hard things!” With a laugh, I get back to work. There is wisdom to the adage “Nothing worth doing was ever easy.”
Last month I announced that I will be writing and directing 14 short films this year. I’m pleased to report that two shorts are now shot and in the can. I have entered post-production, and I will keep you abreast of the development of these stories.
I hope you have good memories from 2023, and that even for the challenging memories you can look back on and be proud of yourself for surviving, and maybe even growing stronger and wiser from the experience. May you lean into whatever challenges stand between you and your dream. You can do hard things!
Adventure Awaits,
Life // War
Why did I think
I could escape clean?
Without dirt,
bullets flying,
wounds, shock,
and lost friends.
Yelling and conflict,
and things which need to mend.
But after all, peace,
and “worth it,”
and stories
from a life
I did not
bury in the ground,
but spend.
S. C. Durbois Newsletter
1st Saturday every month: a new original short story.
3rd Saturday every month: a writerly check-in with updates.
4th Saturday every month: a new chapter from “Bohan the Mage,” a dark academic fantasy novel. Subscriber access only.
Happy to hear that the shoots are going well. Loved the poem!!