Friday 10 June 2011

The Real Life of a Narrowboat Wife

About a year ago, when I was visiting The Mellow Mum, I found a tiny magazine cutting on her bedside table. It was a quote from Mark Twain, “In twenty years from now, you’ll be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did.  So throw off the bowline.  Sail away from the safe harbour. Explore. Dream. Discover.” 

Right now, we’re not travelling the waterways we’ve never seen, but it is about eight years since we travelled this part of the Grand Union, so things have changed and there’s a lot to rediscover. We never did go down the Kennett and Avon canal, but our mission is still to live the dream, to be boaters, travellers, writers and parents. Can we have it all? The Doctor has recently had a chapter published in a distinguished science book. The contributors to the book include leading philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists . His work at The Multiversity involves writing research articles, and he continues to work on his novel at home.

As for me, I’m taking Mark Twain’s advice, “Write without pay until somebody offers pay.”

1 comment:

Alice said...

I love this quote. One of my favourites. And I also believe that you should write out of need and with a passion... getting paid is merely a bonus ;-) x