Today is July 4 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is “How often do you strive to be worthy of recognition?”
President Abraham Lincoln noted "Don't worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition."
Early in his career Stephen King was striving to be worthy of recognition and in doing so published one of his most memorable stories in 1982, a novella entitled Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption: Hope Springs Eternal.
It is loosely based on the Leo Tolstoy short story God Sees the Truth, But Waits. Tolstoy’s story, about a man sent to prison for a murder he didn't commit, takes the form of a parable of forgiveness.
King’s novella was one of four published in the book Different Seasons. At the ending of the book King wrote an afterward dated January 4, 1982.
In it, he explains why he had not previously submitted the novellas (each written at a different time) for publication. Early in his career, his agents and editors expressed concern that he would be "written off" as someone who only wrote horror.
However, his horror novels turned out to be quite popular and made him much in demand as a novelist.
Conversely, the novellas, which did not deal (primarily) with the supernatural, were very difficult to publish as there was not a mass market for "straight" fiction stories in the 25,000- to 35,000-word format.
Thus, King and his editor conceived the idea of publishing the novellas together as "something different", hence the title of the book. It was adapted for the screen 12 years later in 1994 as The Shawshank Redemption, which was nominated for seven Academy Awards in 1994, including Best Picture.
By publishing his novellas into one book, King was striving to be worthy of recognition. Are you striving to be worthy of recognition or worried you are not recognized?