A.F.E. Smith
  • Home
  • Books
    • Marked series >
      • Dawn Rising
      • The Dark Knife
    • Darkhaven novels >
      • Darkhaven
      • Goldenfire
      • Windsinger
  • Shorts
  • Gallery
  • Contact

Never

16/4/2012

0 Comments

 
N is for Never
Never is a frightening word. It has an awful ring of finality to it.

For instance, I will never be a professional artist. I will never be a musician (see M). I will never be a Jedi. I will never own a restaurant, a bar or even a pub.* I will never become a world-famous archer. I will never have a tattoo.

In one sense, that isn't a big deal. I mean, there must be an infinite number of things I will never do or be. But the point is that I have no desire to be an astronaut or a footballer or cross the Atlantic in a boat made of tin cans, whereas at one stage in my life I really quite fancied doing all the stuff listed above (especially being a Jedi). Never, in that context, represents all the dreams I ever had that have fallen by the wayside. And I can't help but feel that as I get older, the realm of never – the realm of closed doors and missed opportunities – will only get larger.

Yet there is a flip side to this. I have never watched Citizen Kane. I have never been to Australia. I have never raised a child. I have never seen the Northern Lights. I have never published a book. All these things belong in the category of possibility and potential. They are things that may (and hopefully will) happen in the future. And so as one set of nevers – the outlandish, the impractical and the ones I just didn't want that much – becomes fixed, another set is continuously turning into haves.

I have been up in a hot air balloon. I have ridden the Incredible Hulk coaster at Islands of Adventure. I have bought my own house. I have seen the Barcelona Fountains. I have watched the sun rise over the sea. And as I get older, though the list of things I'll never do will get longer and longer, so will the list of things I have done.

That's a pretty good place to be, even if I'll never be a Jedi.



* It was going to be called The Unexpected Duck. Don't ask me why.

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

      Enter your email address and click on Submit to receive notifications of new posts.
      Enter your email address here!
    Submit

    Archives

    July 2016
    June 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011

    Categories

    All
    About Me
    Artwork
    A To Z Challenge
    Barren Island Books
    Books
    Character Interviews
    Characterisation
    Darkhaven
    Editing
    Events
    Excerpts
    Fantasy
    Flash Fiction
    Giveaways
    Guest Posts
    Marketing
    Maths
    Pedantry
    Point Of View
    Prophecy
    Publishing
    Reading
    Recommended Reads
    Reviews
    Rules Of Fiction
    Science Fiction
    Serious Stuff
    Sunday Showcase
    Tentacles
    Ugh
    Worldbuilding
    Write Every Day
    Writing

    Or subscribe to my mailing list here!

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Books
    • Marked series >
      • Dawn Rising
      • The Dark Knife
    • Darkhaven novels >
      • Darkhaven
      • Goldenfire
      • Windsinger
  • Shorts
  • Gallery
  • Contact