LETTERS
STAR LETTER
REACH FOR THE STARS In April 2022, it will have been 32 years since NASA launched the Hubble Space Telescope. An upcoming anniversary that reminds me of that Oscar Wilde quote: ‘We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.’
Some days, as many others do I imagine, I feel very much ‘in the gutter’. But I think writing inspires the inward-looking soul to turn their gaze outward, towards inspiring views. At least, I know that writing tends to lift me from my own doldrums. It’s not a miracle cure, and it doesn’t solve everything. But it allows me to turn my mind to other things, if only for a while. Spending time on research takes my mind off my problems. Considering an issue from the point of view of others plucks me from my own little life for a while. Concentrating as I edit a thing... I find it all therapeutic.
I hope, one day, that my writing will reward me with payment and recognition. That’s the goal. But, until then, I can consider celestial bodies, grateful I have found my own way of appreciating their beauty, and grateful to them for reminding us of the grandness of things.
PHILIP SIMONS Bedford, Bedfordshire
The star letter each month ea rns a copy of the Writer s’ & Artists’ Yea rbook 2022, courtesy of Bloom sbury.
TAKING A STAND
How interesting it has been to read in recent WM letters pages that I am not the only person who stands whilst writing. I started standing about five years ago and, like Judith Robinson, I made use of anything which would lift my computer higher – in my case, box files and shoe boxes. Standing keeps me more alert, helps me keep my back straight and takes away the worry of writer’s bottom. Last year, I was lucky enough to be able to purchase a portable standing desk, a table of coffee-table height and dimensions, with folding legs which, when stood on your desk or table, can give an extra added height of eighteen inches.