Rejection - Forcing Life Into My Wings

by Elva C Martin @ElvaCobbMartin

The lovely Emperor Moth has an interesting life story that helped me get through a rejection in my inbox this week. Here's a story about the moth. Maybe it will help you.

A woman once kept a cocoon of an Emperor Moth for a year waiting for the moth to emerge from its tight confines.

The cocoon had a strange construction in that the neck had a very narrow opening through which the mature insect would have to force its way. 

The great disparity between the size of the opening and size of the imprisoned moth made the onlooker wonder how the insect would ever emerge. She studied and found that it is believed the pressure to which the moth's body is subjected when passing through such a narrow passage is nature's way of forcing fluids into the wings.

And she could hardly wait to see those beautiful wings.

One day she witnessed the first efforts of her imprisoned moth to make its escape from the long confinement. She watched for some time as it patiently struggled to be free. It seemed unable to get beyond a certain point. Finally, the woman decided to give the moth a helping hand. With the point of her scissors, she snipped the confining threads to make the exit easier. The moth immediately rolled out, dragging a swollen body. The woman was sure she'd soon see the wings expand into their beautiful colors that were all there in miniature. But she looked in vain. The moth suffered an aborted life and only lived a few minutes.

Writing is a lot like writhing as you struggle to master the craft and edit and rewrite and rework and redo the whole process as long as it takes to escape from Unpubbed Island. 

How do you handle rejections? Do you feel like pulling your hair out? Or shutting down your computer and slouching down in front of the movie channel with some popcorn, peanuts, and chocolate?

I've decided to mark down my rejections in this struggle to publish in honor of the Emperor Moth. Maybe rejections are part of the pressure that is simply forcing life into my wings!

I’ll also feel free to pop in some of that popcorn, peanuts, and chocolate when necessary to get back my writing equilibrium. 

Thanks for stopping by. Please join the conversation and share how you handle rejection. If this article resounded for you, please share it on twitter and face book by clicking the buttons below.

Elva Cobb Martin

Note: Resources for this blog include Streams in the Desert.

Elva Cobb Martin is president of the South Carolina Chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers. She is a former school teacher and a graduate of Anderson University and Erskine College. Decision, Charisma, and Home Life have published her articles. She has published a non-fiction Bible study, Power Over Satan, available on Amazon.com, and has completed two inspirational romances for which she is seeking representation. A mother finally promoted to grandmother, Elva lives with her husband Dwayne and a mini-dachshund writing helper (Lucy) in Anderson, South Carolina. She and her husband are retired ministers. Connect with her on her web site www.elvamartin.com, her blog http://carolinaromancewithelvamartin.blogspot.com on Twitter www.twitter.com/Elvacobbmartin, on Facebook and Goodreads.com