What element of my internship do I like best so far? This question is the jumping-off point for our latest blog post assignment. My internship is just beginning, but here are a few things.
I was assigned some editing. This was “light” proofreading, mostly for punctuation and some grammar. I liked doing it, although it made me question my grasp of the rules of punctuation and grammar. My business education gave me knowledge of things like debits and credits, and FIFO and LIFO inventory calculations, but not as much English.
I enjoy learning about the different clients and their needs and desires. Each client is unique, and the company works to be flexible and adapt to each one. Some clients are doing their own writing, while others are interviewed and have their stories written in-house. Some want a shorter book, some want a longer book. Books vary in size; some are softcover, others hardcover with leather and gold foil lettering. There are an infinite number of possibilities; in the same way, there are an infinite number of human stories.
I was asked to share my writing by contributing posts to the company blog. My blog post about “Beginnings” was shared last week, and I will be writing another post about my grandmother and her journals. I appreciate this very much.
And this is not something I like specifically about the internship, but it has felt great to go into an office and contribute. The last time I worked in an office was for a short stint at a software development company thirteen years ago. This isn’t a small thing for me. Most of my professional career has been working for my family. It’s important to be in this MFA program now and to take on work out in the world.
Here’s a question for you, dear reader - do you know the difference between output and offering? I didn’t until this week. Output is work completed with the energy of fixing a problem. Offering is work completed in flow, with presence.
The distinction has me reflecting on my work and my writing. And the years (lifetime) I spent trying to fix myself.
I’ve been taking Pilates classes for the past three years, and I have the absolute best instructor. She owns the studio and is a beautiful teacher in so many ways. Last week, with the bitter cold here in Massachusetts, a pipe froze, flooding her studio. She had to cancel classes for the week. Today, she told us how glad she was to be back teaching, how much she needed to be back, for herself. And as a drove away, I thought about how her teaching is her offering.
To be able to contribute, to offer something out into the world, is life-giving. It’s your energy, it’s your creativity. It’s you. And maybe the person it gives the most life to is you.
“Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in”
—“Anthem” by Leonard Cohen
Note: I’m currently enrolled in the Creative Nonfiction Writing MFA program at Bay Path University. This semester, I’m writing blog posts based on prompts for my Publishing class. I’ve decided to fold these assignments into Pam’s Daybook. It fits.
I love this so much Pam. And I can't believe how your distinction between offering and output is what I needed to read right now. thanks!
This might be my favorite thing so far. I'm going to spend some time thinking about output vs offering.