Coming together in a safe, positive and revitalising environment such as The Chateau Spa & Organic Wellness Resort in Bukit Tinggi was deemed a perfect escapade by everyone. The pampered weekend stay has helped me to end my isolation, recognise my visibility and form new relationships with fellow writers who formed a small group of winners. It was a worthy prize for being identified as a first-place winner in the Love category for the Jasmina Awards 2019 – Growing Old is a Gift short stories contest. However, the sad joy of celebrating this recognition was the passing of my late mum who was the source of my inspiration for all her verbal stories and historical experiences.
I felt the call to write, as a means of closure when my late father passed away in Y2006. There were many obstacles to writing when I first began as a freshie. Resistance, blocks, doubts, fears, and plus just life can get in the way, when you are trying to put thoughts into words. They say writing is an internal thing and that it’s all in your head and you may feel like a tortured artist! The mysterious process of writing is intoxicating – it uncovers many facets of the inner and outer life processes of a writer, with ideas to help open, heal and reveal that special passion inside to express and create. Thirteen year later, I now feel anchored in my accidental vocation. This award has sealed my apprehension and enhanced my passion for telling short stories. Taking control of my thoughts, thinking positively and setting new goals has been incredibly motivating and empowering.
A well-known African proverb says, “It takes a village to raise a child.” The same is true for writing. At this relax full wellness resort, I found a cohort of abled bodied senior adults, banded together by their passion for writing. Here I found a community for writers who wanted to find their voice and improve their craft be it writing thrillers, romance, fantasy, short stories, features, biographies, blogs, poems or other forms of creative works. Each individual had sent in a winning entry to the short story challenge. The gathering of winners has not only helped many senior contributors develop their writing voice, but enabled networking with other “closet” writers.
Writing may be a solitary endeavour, but many writers could always use a little support, feedback, and camaraderie which this break provided. The gathering of senior winners had showed that many were able to season their stories in settings of times long past, or times far into the future. But whatever genre that the story carried, elements that we writers want to have in the mix of the stories were mostly created by our imaginations. Each author brought their own measurements of these ingredients to their work as portrayed by the short stories & poems that were bind together. I now understand that while writers are as different as the books they write, there are still elements common to most of us or that afflict us periodically as we struggle to produce. We all spoke a little about our writing or the books that inspired us, but mostly, we all celebrated the gift of writing. It made everyone feel involved and significant at this indulgent and rustic hideaway gathering.
At the end of this short trip to celebrate our wins, I realised that writers with their solitary natures and occupations often hunger for some form of clan or tribe. The psychological support provides a place for practice and feedback, encouragement, discipline, or just general human contact. I am reminded that while writing is solitary, to be part of a like-minded community of writers who often seek the solace, insights and encouragement that can only come from fellow aging and experienced writers, will enable them to reach their individual goals. The Jasmina Awards Y2019 short story contest certainly offered renew recognition on all our writing successes gave a social outlet to the aging community to recognise their hidden talents and actually offered a life audience for those who were self-conscious about reading their stories & poems. I look forward to another goal setting project organised by this team of social motivators in the Y2020. They would have to endeavour to bring together people from diverse backgrounds to celebrate diversity, recognize our common humanity, and build a sense of an all-inclusive world community. This mission will give renewed hope to the aging society’s journey in Malaysia covering areas of literature, drama and the arts.
Written by Sheela Kanagasabai
First Prize Winner
Love Story Category
Jasmina Awards 2019
Note: This a reflective piece written after the weekend stay at The Chateau, Bukit Tinggi together with the other winners of Jasmina Awards 2019. Click HERE to view pictures from the magical weekend.