Trying to be a Giant

Did you ever notice how the Jolly Green Giant says “ho, ho, ho” kind of the way Santa Claus does? Could this be in error, or are they related? Maybe they’re the same guy. I mean, you never see them together…

Santa Claus is kind of a giant at Christmastime – not in the Fee Fie Foe Fum way, but, you know, what with his mug on cards, in stores, standing outside houses, sitting in the mall dealing with squirmy little kids that really don’t want to be there, he kind of owns the retail end of the holidays. 

Yeah, Santa Claus is a giant. 

I’ve been thinking about that. About being a giant.

You and I are writers, right? We have our different styles, our different preferred genres, but, at the end of the day, we both put words on a page, or into a document. It’s what we do, right?

So, I have a secret mantra. When I get scared or stressed out, I have this set of seven platitudes that calms me down. 

It’s calming because of the words, of course, but also because it takes so dang long to get through all seven.

Next time you have to go wee and you just can’t possibly hold it in for another second, count backwards from 5 before you go. It sounds loony, but you’ll be surprised that you can do it. You absolutely just have to go this very second…5, 4, 3, 2, 1… and now go. How is it possible that you can hold it long enough to do the countdown?

It’s mind over matter. You give your brain a little puzzle – it’s super easy to count up, but counting down takes a little thinking – and your brain stops focusing on going wee while it solves the puzzle.

I think that’s how this long mantra works. Here it is:

Be of good cheer. Keep working. Keep an open mind. Keep an open heart. Have faith. Have confidence. And don’t forget who you are. 

Self-explanatory, yes? As time progresses, we’ll go into each of these with a finer-tooth comb, but you get the gist, right?

Have faith -I’m not a religious guy, so my faith is that the universe is not evil (neither is it benevolent), so dark forces are not working against me. That’s dumb, I know, but it’s where I live.

Have confidence – that’s about your work. Have confidence in your work, because it’s what you do.

Even if I’m not a spectacularly good writer, and I’m truly not, I can still take confidence that my writing is done to the best of my ability. I’m confident that I’ve done my best.

We can always learn to write better. You can know for certain that even Hemingway flipped his sentences around to find better ways of saying things. It’s just what we do.

So, here’s my question: was Hemingway a giant? Of course he was – we don’t even use his first name. Just like saying Santa, the world knows who we are talking about, right?

Why am I, then, not a giant? Well, fame, of course, which is a result of not getting my work into the right hands, and also perhaps of my being a crummy writer.

Now, I am in no way comparing myself to Hemingway. I mean, the guy was truly a literary giant. He had a unique and compelling voice that could not be replicated.

But here’s my thinking: no one in the universe – no one – writes the way you and I do. No one. When we write something down, some sentence cleverly crafted to the very best of our ability, have we not added to the canon of human literature?

The canon of human literature. 

Wow. But isn’t that what we do? Don’t we add to this vast body of written works, making it richer and more diverse with our points of view and choices of words? With our thoughts. 

Does that not make us giants?

Alas, Santa gets the credit, but the elves make the toys and fill the sleigh, right? Santa is a giant, but what about the elves? Maybe each one is an unsung giant in their own field – a giant of a little wooden wheel hammerer. Nobody does it like Snoggnar – she’s a tiny little giant in her field.

So, now I’m thinking about adding another phrase to my mantra: Be a giant in your work.

I know. Adding an eighth platitude kind of messes up the symmetry of the magical seven, and I’m not ever sure what being a giant means. 

I think of Dr. Malcolm in Jurassic Park: “they’re, uh, standing on the shoulders of giants…”

Lemme know what you think!

And thank you for reading.

You big ol’ giant, you!