Still Just Writing Essay Example for Free

Still Just Writing Essay Almost every man who walks this planet has goals, aims, and, aspirations that he dreams of achieving. However, distractions often come about, thwarting people and preventing them from attaining their aspirations. A distraction can pull a person’s whole mind and body into a different world manipulating him to neglect his lifelong goals, and never achieve his dreams. A student, entering college with dreams of achieving a 4. 0 GPA and becoming valedictorian, can easily be swept up by social distractions, causing him to abandon his goals. Tillie Olsen and Anne Tyler both discus in their narratives, â€Å"Silences†, and, â€Å"Still Just Writing†, how parenting, childrearing, and mundane errands effected their lifelong dreams of becoming writers. They both believe that women cannot possibly create â€Å"enduring literature† unless they remain childless. However, Olsen and Tyler each viewed her own personal situation through different perspectives. Their different perspectives on life led them to each deal with her lifelong dreams and desires of becoming authors in different ways. The constant responsibilities of motherhood will have an effect on a woman’s desires and dreams. Both Olsen’s and Tyler’s dreams of becoming writers were neglected because of the immense responsibilities of motherhood. Tillie Olsen states, â€Å"All distinguished achievements has come from childless women†. She believes that all her motherly tasks have left her writing skills to â€Å"fester†, â€Å"convulse†, and â€Å"die† within her. She feels that her responsibilities and trials of family have locked away her writing talents, â€Å"like a squirrel in a cage†. Similarly, Tyler’s busy life as a mother tremendously weakens her writing abilities. Between her children’s spring vacation, dental appointments, and gymnastics meetings, there seems to never be a free moment for her to sit down and concentrate on writing a novel, â€Å"Although she planned to work till three thirty everyday it was a month of early quittings†. Tyler’s writing skills slowly deteriorated, and her once powerful, thought-out characters, turned, â€Å"pale and knuckly, like someone scrabbling at a cliff edge so as not to fall away entirely†. The responsibilities and joy of bringing up children, and being a dedicated mother distracted Olsen and Tyler from developing their writing skills, and fulfilling their dreams of becoming renowned authors. Happiness is not dependent on one’s life situation, rather it is dependent on ones perspective and attitude regarding his situation. Although Olsen’s and Tyler’s situations in life were quite similar, their perspectives and attitudes on life could not have been more different. Tillie Olsen believes that social pressures squashed her talents and all women’s writing talents into a dark shadowy corner, denying their development. She believes that society views â€Å"woman writers, woman experience, and literature written by woman by definition minor†. Furthermore, Olsen believes that woman are forced to give into the social pressures of always, â€Å"being attractive†, and spend hours, â€Å"agonizing over appearance†, rather than spending hours working on literary writings. Olsen views herself and her lost dreams as the miserable victim of social discrimination against women. However, Anne Tyler views her situation in a totally different light than Olsen does. Tyler believes that distractions are a part of life that affects everyone, not just woman. She laments how her husband’s writing, â€Å"fell by the wayside†, while he was finishing his medical schooling. Additionally, she describes how her husband’s, â€Å"responsibilities to support a family† cause him to neglect his writings, which he cares so deeply about. Unlike Olsen, Tyler doesn’t view the world as an evil place that stunts women from developing their talents, rather she views the world as a place where everyone, man and woman alike, have responsibilities towards other people which must be fulfilled as they strive to accomplish their lifelong dreams. Differences in ones perspective in life leads to different outcomes in the way one leads one’s life. Olsen’s negative outlook on her life led her to permanently give up on her dreams. Olsen believes that one cannot find a balance between ones mundane responsibilities and one’s dreams. She believes that, â€Å"you must choose between your art and fulfillment as a woman†. Her pessimistic belief that she is the victim of â€Å"coercive working of sexiest oppression†, causes her to relinquish her lifelong goals. Although she admits that some women try to have a family life and become a writer, her negative perspective on the world causes her to believe that their work will be, â€Å"impeded, lessened and partial†. Olsen’s downbeat attitude towards life has led her to believe that the responsibilities of motherhood has sapped her from her literary and writing talents, and has cruelly snatched away her dreams of becoming a distinguished author. Unlike Olsen, Tyler’s positive outlook on life allowed her to learn how to deal with her responsibilities. Like a child who learns how to balance on a bicycle, Tyler learns how to properly balance her life as a mother and a writer. She believes that her experience of being a mother has caused her to grow, â€Å"richer and deeper†, allowing her writing to become more profound and meaningful, â€Å"when I did write I had more self to speak from†. Tyler has successfully found a, â€Å"way to slip gracefully through a choppy life of writing novels, plastering the dining room ceiling and presiding at slumber parties†. Tyler is a successful mother and yet she is also, â€Å"still just writing†. Tyler’s optimistic outlook on life led her to become a unique individual; she is a happy easygoing housewife and mother, and a deep profound writer. Few people can fulfill their responsibilities towards others and attain their dreams. Only with a positive, upbeat, easygoing attitude, like that of Tyler, can one fulfill the time consuming, mundane tasks of life, while simultaneously achieving one’s lifelong goals. This world is a challenge, where we each must find the exact balance between our general obligations to our family and mankind, and our lifelong goals and desires. We cannot allow our mundane responsibilities to sidetrack us from reaching our goals. We must use our mind like a laser beam, and focus on what is important in our life, whether it is becoming the next great author, earning a 4. 0 GPA or developing our character traits. We should be like Anne Tyler and view our responsibilities through a positive eye, learn to appreciate them, and grow from them, but not allow them overtake our desires to accomplish our aims, ambitions, and aspirations.