Writers Are Like Wombats
We Both Have Super Powers
A few days ago, during a Silent Writing session, in A Writing Room, I opened my laptop, prepared to head to 750words.com to write my daily entry. At the bottom of my screen, I noticed a furry creature in the search bar. My curiosity got the best of me, I had to see what that cute critter was and why it was in the search bar.
It said it was International Wombat Day! Cool. New fun fact.
What do I know about wombats? Nothing, except their hilarious name. Say it three times in a row without laughing, I dare you. I double-wombat dare you.
I clicked to learn more.
Writers, you know how easy it is to “squirrel,” to get distracted from the planned task at hand? Turns out, wombats can have the same effect. I found myself down the rabbit hole of research.
The research made me laugh. My distracted mind started to make correlations between us, Writers, and wombats.
Here’s what I found.
They are sort of egg shaped with short legs. I can relate to both, but especially the short legs. There are chairs that make it impossible for my feet to reach the floor. If a wombat sat in a chair, she would have the same problem.
This made me think about our powers of observation and description. Are we short-legged, I mean, short-sighted, in our observations at times? I’m sure I am. In my day-to-day life, I can get tunnel vision and miss out on so much around me. Situational awareness is a vital skill that we all need to continue to work on. Tunnel vision works great for wombats, not so much for Writers.
Yes, I know, I hear you saying, “Hey, Jacque, the word Writers shouldn’t be capitalized there.”
True. But I wrote awhile back about how important it is for us to claim our identities as Writers in Community With a Capital "C". A friend suggested that we capitalize it and claim it. I agree. I also capitalize the word Community, because of the importance of it for Writers.
I’ve gone rogue and feral with the capitalization of those two words. No regrets. No apologies. And no edits. As my niece said recently about how often she cleans and conditions her lovely leather couches, “I do what I want.” 😁 Her words made me smile. I am so proud of her for so many reasons. When it comes to capitalizing Writers, and Community, I do what I want.
Wombats have staying power. All mammals mark their territory in some way. Wombats have taken it to a stellar level. Their droppings are cube shaped so that they don’t roll away. When a wombat claims space for themselves, it sticks. They are tenacious and determined.
Writers, we can learn from that. We can be bold and resilient in claiming our space too: in our Communities, in our words, and on the page. When we set a goal for ourselves, we can remain determined to keep that firmly in place, top of mind, and be unwavering in our knowing we will have a successful result.
Wombats have teeth that grow continually. To keep their teeth healthy, they have to chew on tough stuff like roots and bark.
We grow continually too. Our endless curiosity and longing for adventure keep us learning, changing and honing our minds, hearts, and writing chops.
It’s important that we keep chewing on the things that make us wonder, things that challenge us, and work to toughen us up in the areas that will make us more resilient.
We need to gnaw on the knowledge and practices that make it possible for us to objectively consider feedback and critique, which are vital for us to become even better Writers.
Wombats are super fast! They can run up to 25 miles per hour to escape, or charge at, predators.
Writers need to be speedy too. We need to be able to pivot when a sentence or scene is not working. We need to be able to formulate ideas on the fly as we are writing. And we need to be fierce in protecting our boundaries and in making our inner critic back off.
Wombats have a backward-facing pouch. Creation is a wonder for me. I am continually in awe when it comes to nature. This pouch seems ridiculous until you consider its purpose. It is designed to keep dirt out when wombats are burrowing. The pouch keeps the joey safe, and clean, while their mom goes about her important business.
What if we turned our imaginary pouches around, made them backward-facing, to keep out the dirt of negativity, procrastination, the voice of the inner critic (the inner bully that has NO business talking to us), or any off-the-mark feedback we receive? What if we kept our inner joey safe and happy by adopting a mindset of treating ourselves with lovingkindness? I am up to the challenge! Will you please join me?
Wombats have a super power, it is their rear end. That’s right. Their booty. It is designed with extra tough cartilage, skin and fur. To protect themselves, they dive headfirst into their burrow and block the entrance with their tough rump. They’ll even swing it around to hit an attacker while they rush to their burrow.
This fun fact had me howling with laughter because an image came to mind of us Writers, flinging our resilient rumps around, bouncing negativity, procrastination, the inner bully, and unwanted feedback off of us left and right. Can you imagine? 😅
We can develop a toughness like the super strong cartilage in the rump of a wombat, while keeping our hearts and minds tender. We can develop the resilience to overcome anything, or anyone, who tries to distract or deter us. Anyone, including ourselves. 🎯
We must develop that resilience.
Our words, our stories are too important to allow anything, or anyone, to get in the way. The world needs our words - desperately.
Writers have a superpower. It is our ability to feel, to care, and to formulate, curate, and translate those feelings and ideas into words on the page that touch the hearts and minds of our readers.
Our readers are waiting.
YOUR readers are waiting.
It’s time to write, share, and repeat, repeat, repeat.
Jacque, Brilliant comparison. I laughed at your descriptions and the image of rumps swaying in A Writer's Room cracked me up. You are so encouraging in your writing.
So fun! Thank you for sharing... now I have to Google wombat to see some video of that rump in action!