Yesterday as I was thinking about writing this blog, I remembered other writing I’ve done through the years. At one time, I wrote a column for my hometown newspaper, The Tahlequah Daily Press. I called the column Looking Back. In it, I told stories of my mother’s childhood as she had told them to me. I also wrote about other people and events that are a part of the history of Cherokee County. All of these features could be thought of as looking back, seeing a bit of history through the eyes of the people who lived it.
I have had the privilege, in my younger days, of seeing my dad plow a field. No, not with a tractor but with a horse. The shiny black soil would peel away from the plow and the furrow the plow point left would be straight and deep. Dad always looked ahead as he walked behind the plow. He kept his eyes in the direction he was headed. If he hadn’t, the row would not have been straight and sure.
Nostalgia or looking back with longing can be detrimental if carried to the extreme. If we want life to go smooth and straight, we’ve got to look where we are going, and only look at where we’ve been when a lesson can be learned from it.
Oh, except of course for the writer! The writer has a grand time looking back. She can explore the past decade or century, re-live it through the magic of words, and hop back into the present with no problem. There is no conflict between past and present and no crooked rows. She looks straight forward to her goal and that goal is to create an imaginary world which is very real to the reader. For the writer, sometimes looking back is looking ahead. In Best Left Buried, Darcy and Flora must relive a traumatic event from 1918. But our courageous mother/duo team don’t dwell on past injuries, they are too busy living in the exciting present and looking ahead to a bright future. Yes, indeed, for me, one of the perks of writing is looking back and bringing the past into the realm of the present day reader.
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