Bridget McNulty

The middle way…

// August 13th, 2008 // Decisions, Publishing, Writing

I’m not angry any more (thank goodness!)
I don’t do so well with anger – it kind of gets into my blood and makes me feel fizzy and agitated.
But I still feel wronged, and I realised that it’s an unusual feeling for me. I don’t think people take advantage of me much… I feel lucky to be able to say this!

It’s interesting, though, because as I was deciding what to do about this situation (an online literary journal publishing my work without my consent, for those of you out of the loop) my immediate response was – just let it go! When things make me feel bad, I naturally want them out of my life. It always seems to me to be an either/or argument. Either you’re furious and ranting and can’t concentrate OR you let it go and don’t do anything about it.

But I think there has to be a middle way. I used to rile against the notion of the middle way, because I thought it meant being mediocre and not getting much done. Now I’ve realised that the middle way represents balance, and I am all about balance.

So what’s the balanced thing to do here? Take action, without negative emotion. Remove the emotional charge and just make sure that the situation is resolved. Is this obvious to everyone else? Is it just me who doesn’t see how much sense this makes, and has spent the last couple of decades either/or-ing?

So I’m going to get in touch with the publisher of the magazine and ask them to resolve the situation, and if they don’t I’m going to publish a warning against them for other writers to read. I just hate the thought that there are editors and publishers out there who are just grabbing people’s writing without any thought or respect directed to the writers. It takes all the joy out of it, you know?

I’ll keep you posted….
Incidentally, the way I reached this middle way conclusion was by asking myself, “What would a wise woman do?” so I’m being a good philosophy student in the process!