It is barely July and this summer has already exhausted me. There have been three (count them, three!) trips out of town. Each has required a three to five hour drive to arrive at the desired location and another three to five hours to get home.
Seems like there should be sun in that photo, doesn’t it? Tell me about it.
Now that it’s July, perhaps the rain will let up for a few months.
We have gone to the zoo, the movies, the beach, the rodeo. My daughter has participated in 4H events – including walking a three-mile parade route, gone horseback riding, and joined the summer swim team. Hello daily practices. At 8:00 am.
I have planned and begun executing a series of free community classes on how to make grocery store staples like chicken stock or homemade yogurt.
We celebrated my husband’s 39th birthday.
We put in half a house worth of hardwood flooring (and have another half to go).
We started up a mother/daughter summer book club.
What does any of this have to do with writing?
Absolutely nothing – which is only slightly less than I am getting done.
I was bemoaning my lack of productivity to my husband the other day.
I asked him, “What would you say to one of your business partners if they were in the same situation? How would you coach them? Coach me!” (Which really meant: give me some magic beans and fix this problem, please.)
His reply surprised me for a moment. “I would tell her to figure it out.” Then he looked me in the eye and said, “Heidi, figure it out. If it’s important to you, you’ll make it work.“
Too simple? Maybe. But he’s right. If writing is important to me, I’ll figure it out. I may need to cut back on other activities, get up earlier, enlist help when needed, and make sure that I eat well and exercise so I have the physical and mental energy I need.
I’d like to say that I put all of those things in practice immediately and I am now cranking out pages, but that’s not exactly the case. It is taking me some time, but I am working on it.
Writing is important. I’m figuring it out.
How do you balance your writing with those extra busy periods at home? Have you figured it out?
