It really felt like the end of everything I had worked for, and I was willing to let a lot of stuff go in order to maintain some kind of normalcy, but ultimately, it was just untenable, and in some ways, I’m glad that it was so untenable that I didn’t have a choice in the matter. I was just terrified of what life on the other side would look like, and I couldn’t see how I would support myself I couldn’t see how my kids would grow up well-adjusted. There was a time when I really fought it, even though there was a part of me that knew it was necessary. Smith: I mean, there are definitely some people in my life who are glad I got divorced because it would be awkward if I weren’t.

Rumpus: Right, although I will say that I’m glad you’re divorced because I get to spend so much time with you now. If I hadn’t gotten divorced and written this book, I would have just written a different book, but I wouldn’t have been feeling betrayed and heartbroken. I do not buy into the idea that “I’m glad I felt so terrible because that’s what enabled me to write this book.” I just would much rather be an at-peace human being because there are always other things to write about. Probably, the person I was in 2018 wouldn’t have believed some of the harder things I’m going through now, too, but I don’t subscribe to the idea that somehow the pain is needed to be alchemized into art.

Smith: Oh, I think I would want to reassure that person because, probably, the person I was in 2018 wouldn’t have believed the person in 2020 would be happy. Rumpus: If you could go back, and tell your really sad self in 2018 how well you’d be doing in 2020, would you reassure her, or would you not because all of those experiences were necessary to be who you are now? Keep Moving: The Journal: Thrive Through Change and Create a Life You Love by Maggie Smith Paperback 14.49 16.00 Save 9 Paperback 14.49 eBook 11. At The Rumpus, Kelly Sundberg speaks with poet Maggie Smith, whose new book, Keep Moving (Simon & Schuster), is a collection of essays and meditations that 'began as a series of tweets that Smith wrote to herself as comfort during her divorce.' More from their conversation:

Keep moving maggie smith