I missed you guys! I was only away on my mother/daughter trip for four days, but it seems like an eternity since I last communicated with you. I have to admit that I enjoyed my downtime immensely, and the added bonus was the opportunity to spend it with my daughter. But, I’m glad to be back and writing.
Toodlez and I journeyed westward and ended up experiencing the breathtakingly picturesque views of The Grand Canyon; the red rock and dirt of Sedona; the high altitude of Flagstaff; the towering palm trees of Phoenix; and the overall majestic mountains (everywhere you turn) in the memorable state of Arizona. Since I don’t get the luxury of viewing such awesomeness in the surroundings in which I dwell, you can probably imagine all the ooo’s and ahhh’s that were coming from my mouth. And with all of the jaw-dropping scenery that constantly filled up my vantage point, I managed to write absolutely nothing and edit very little. (The small amount of editing that was done took place on the flight back home).
My lack of writing was not due to a lack of inspiration; I had inspiration all around me. I simply wanted to take everything in and make sure I made the most of my time experiencing life rather than writing all of my finite time away. This perspective reminds me a lot of the whole camera/video recorder phenomenon that takes place on vacations. I, most certainly, wanted to capture video and pictures of just about any new occurrence that came across my path in Arizona. However, I didn’t want to be the one doing the capturing. There’s just something incredibly annoying (to me personally) about having to interrupt my exploration of new territory to get behind a camera. Therefore, my daughter ended up taking the brunt of the visual responsibilities. (I was her assistant).
The whole vacation experience brought me back to how mighty and wondrous God truly is and it helped me to hone in on some much-needed perspective in my life. And here’s what I mean. Recently, I’ve found myself hunkering down and putting a lot of time, energy, focus, and attention on writing my manuscript. However, I pretty much had to let other priorities take a side note in order to accomplish my writing goal in the time frame determined. What I was doing while I was intently writing was missing out on some important life events. I was essentially writing about life instead of making sure to fully live it.
While writing is a vital part of what I’ve come to recognize as my life’s work, I’ve become a writer that wants writing to be a part of my life, not take over my life. So, one of my goals for my next book is to find a fine balance in setting realistic goals that will allow me to carry out my life’s work while experiencing life events at the same time. I want it all! I’m just that hopeful in the belief that such a balance is doable and I’m quite certain that a myriad of writers are out there doing the very thing that I’m aspiring to do. If you’re one of those individuals who’s been enlightened, I would love for you to get in touch with me and let me know how you managed the balance between writing your book and living life. In the meantime, I’ll rely on my visual reminders from Arizona that caution me not to veer too far to the left or right but to remember to focus on the things most important to me. Obviously, I’m striving to incorporate writing into my life, not work my life around writing. My ultimate personal motto: God and family first; everything else follows.
degreesofmaternity.com 