sigelphoenix

I feel both exhausted and accomplished (hence, "exhaumplished"). This week and past weekend I vanquished a couple of major projects, including both my short story for class and a massive filing endeavor at work; and it suddenly feels like I've been inundated with recognition. Today, I had a great and ego-inflating workshop for my story -- not that there wasn't criticism, of course, but I received a lot of praise concerning things I was particularly invested in, and the critique focused on aspects that I knew needed revision anyway, so it was actually encouraging. I also opened my email to find a sort of virtual fanfare from many of the women in my office concerning the project I just finished. And I found out yesterday that I aced the English lit midterm I was fretting over last week. So, yes, ego-boosts all around. I could get used to this ... or highly suspicious. As it is, I already think all this is sort of weird. >_>

Anyway, now that the boring self-congratulations are over, I have a question for the writerly types out there. At the beginning of the quarter, my short story instructor had us brainstorm about -- among other things -- what themes we tend to write about. I looked at my responses again after finishing this latest short story, and was interested to see that the same themes had cropped up in this piece. My short stories from this past year all address, in some form or another, the idea of control (of self and of others) and of self-deception.

So my question for you: What themes/issues do you address in your writing? Even if it's not always in the forefront, what tends to show up, even if you don't consciously intend it? Obviously it's not always easy to recognize this in our own writing, but what have you noticed? Do you talk about ego, unrequited love, competition? Do you always write about sibling relationships, etc.? How do you think your treatment of these issues has changed or matured?