Monday Musings 8-16-21

I can’t believe it’s the middle of August already. As usual, my summer to-do list isn’t anywhere near complete. You’d think I’d have learned the ‘don’t-bite-off-more-than-you-can-chew’ lesson by now. After all, I’ve been writing full time for over five years. But no, I still have delusions of grandeur at the start of every summer season, only to be somewhat frustrated by the end. Next year, I’m going to remind myself to read this post before I begin planning!

Okay, so my list will have to carry over to the fall, which really is my most productive season anyway, but in the meantime, I’ve had to reframe my thinking…

If I look at all my various work projects, friendships, family relationships, volunteer obligations, and travel plans as if they are campfires, my job is to keep a tiny ember alive for each. I can’t manage them all as roaring flames. But, if I do enough to keep the embers warm, when I am ready to give one my full attention, it will flare back to life.

My focus right now is on getting one of my kids packed up and ready for a cross-country college move. I don’t have much time to see my friends, but a quick note to say I’m thinking of them and can’t wait to plan a lunch date in few weeks goes a long way. They understand, just as I would. I also haven’t had much time to create new content, but I write a little bit each day just to keep my head in the game. Soon, my priorities will shift, and my time and energy will be refocused. Hopefully, my new manuscript will flare back to life like the campfire flame!

For me, the summer season is a full one, and to be honest, I wouldn’t want it any other way. Making peace with what that means for my productivity has taken me years, but I think I’ve finally worked it out!

Here are some summer photos! We’ve been busy indeed. Daisy dog is settling in, and Comic Con was a blast. We visited family in Florida, attended a fab summer wedding here on the beach, and barbecued many times!

Monday Musings 3-1-21

Today, during my morning yoga practice, the instructor invited us to “move without rushing.” Our practice is a vinyasa power flow, and I love it because its the right balance between stretching, toning, and sweating. Vinyasa indicates that, for part of the class, the poses will be strung together into flowing movements. It tends to kick my heart rate up and get a good sweat going, but it’s also easy for me to check out during this time and rush from one posture to another without fully engaging in any of them. Her words helped keep me present during class, and they also resonated after I left to start my work week.

I often find that I’m either rushing through an ambitious to-do list or trying to drag myself through the day, completely spent before I even start. Although I’ve been working at home for years now, and have a good understanding of my own rhythm and productivity, I still struggle with balance. This idea to “move without rushing” invites full engagement in the moment and balances it with forward progress. It reminds me that I can be present in my task, whatever it is, and then move on gracefully when it’s time. There is no need to hurry, and there is no reason to look to the next moment while engaged in this one. Progress is still being made, and whatever I am working on, or whoever I am with, deserves my full attention.

Sometimes, the simplest of ideas can be transformative. Today, I will move without rushing.

IN OTHER NEWS…

Our newest kitten has adjusted nicely to the family. Along with our other fluff muffins, she provides us with hours of entertainment!

Monday Musings 6-22-20

Over the years, I’ve learned to think about my creative life in terms of seasons. When I honor my personal, seasonal rhythm, my productivity over time is really good. It’s been an effective method. I create a lot of content in the fall when the days are crisp and my house is quiet. I allow myself a gentler pace during the cold, dark days of winter. I spend a lot of time on the business side of things during spring. And summer, well, summer is usually my favorite season.

My summers have been filled with conferences, conventions, book tours, and signings. Being with other writers or my own fans helps me recharge. Summer is generally the season when I remember that although writing is my job now, I still find great joy in it.

This summer, things are different, and Covid is already taking a toll on my professional life. But, I live in coastal New England, a beautiful part of the world, especially in the summertime. For years, I’ve wanted to spend the entire summer here instead of traveling, and this year, well, I don’t have a choice. So, I am going to look for the gift in this challenging time. I’m going to appreciate the longer days, the slower pace, and the ability to spend hours outdoors. I’m going to imagine I’m on a writing retreat and sink into my project. I’m going to let go of my expectations. Without them, I’m free to embrace the season in a new way.

“Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don’t fight them. Just find a new way to stand.” - Oprah Winfrey 

Monday Musings 4-20-20

One of my favorite things about the writer’s life, besides the storytelling part, is meeting readers. I’ve had the opportunity to sign books, serve on panels, guest teach, and make friends all over the country. A couple of years ago, I was signing books at the Big E, a huge multi-state fair in Massachusetts. It may sound like a strange place for a book signing, but our writer’s association had a small corner in our state’s building aptly named ‘the book nook’ where one author per day could set up. Turns out, it was a fantastic day. I sold out my inventory, ran into some old friends, and met people I still keep in touch with today.

One group included high school seniors and their FFA sponsor from a rural town in Delaware who were at the fair showing their livestock. I chatted with the kids, and the teacher bought my book. She gave it to the school’s librarian who got in touch with me months later and invited me to come to Delaware for some book events. I spent several days guest teaching in the English department at the high school, being interviewed by the school media department, spending time with the kids in small groups to chat about the writing process, and signing books at local town library events.

I still have a special relationship with that school and small town, and I try to go back every year for various events. This year, I likely won’t make it, but my librarian friend asked if the kids could send me some questions and I could answer them with various articles he’d share. The first thing they wanted to know was how I’ve been utilizing my time in quarantine, and how I’m making sense of what’s happening in the world. Am I more or less productive? Are the words flowing or am I stuck?

Here’s how I answered…

Most of us on planet Earth have had to simplify and take refuge in our homes. Our regular lives are on hold, and many of the things that used to fill our days are off limits. We’re living in one prolonged moment of pause. This extra time could present us artistic types with an opportunity – an opportunity to focus on creative things if we are so inclined. But, is that what’s really happening?

I have many writer friends, and we actually talk a lot about this. We all feel like we should be super productive. After all, Isaac Newton invented calculus while in quarantine during the Great Plague of London. If he could accomplish something so monumental, we should at least be able to crank out a few thousand extra words. But, that’s not how it is. At least, not every day.

This quarantine isn’t like attending a writer’s retreat, where we’ve purposely cleared our calendars and removed ourselves to some peaceful cabin on a lake in order to get our creative juices flowing or finish up that manuscript on deadline. Nope. We are at home, worried about our families, our finances, about the possibility of getting sick.

One of the things I’m struggling with personally is the feeling that I can’t be helpful. Years ago, I was an EMT, and I worked as a first responder in the field and in a hospital ER. Later I worked in education. If I were still doing either, I think I’d feel more useful. But even on a simpler scale, I can’t watch my neighbor’s kids for a couple of hours so she can get some work done. I can’t do a friend’s laundry who isn’t feeling well. I can’t bring over a bottle of wine and visit with a friend who’s struggling. I can’t do many of the usual things I normally would to support my friends and neighbors in a time of crisis. And we’re all in crisis, make no mistake. The world is suffering, and we don’t know what it will look like when we emerge on the other side.   

So, even though I have extra time, I’m not always in the frame of mind to use it.

Here’s what I am trying to do. I’m trying to find some sort of balance between setting a schedule that will accomplish something, and being gentle with myself. I don’t want to tip too far into non-functional, because that’s a hard pit to crawl out of. It’s easy to spiral into my own head, or circle the drain, as I like to call it, when I don’t have access to the things that keep my head in a good space. For me, most of those things are socially driven. I’m giving myself permission to breathe through the bad days guilt free. But, I’m also coaxing myself to set modest fitness, mental health, and work goals. They are watered down compared to the ones I had in pre-Covid days, but they still encourage forward progress.

Mostly, I try to remember that I can choose to feel gratitude for what I have. I am grateful for my family, for my home, for simple things like a sunny day and my cat purring on my pillow, for getting words - any words - onto a piece of paper. This is a strange and scary time for us all. I don’t think we should put pressure on ourselves, but at the same time, we will emerge from our cocoons and reenter the light at some point, so we don’t want to lose ourselves in the dark.

Monday Musings 8-26-19

This morning it feels like fall has already arrived. While we have a few more days of summer vacation left before the routine of school and sports and kids’ activities officially begins, we can all feel it in the air. I’ll be sad to see summer fade, but it was a good one. We filled our days with barbecues, family, friends, swimming, and amusement parks, and our nights with fires, s’mores, concerts, and more than a few bottles of good wine. Yes, we all worked. It was Comic Con season for me, and those can be exhausting, but still, the different rhythm of summer provides a needed change, a break from the routine.

Now, along with the crisp days of autumn, I look forward to my most productive writing season. Over the course of my professional life, I’ve learned that I work best when I honor my personal rhythms. When I recognize that there is a natural time when I am most creative and a time when I need to slow down, I feel more balanced and ultimately, in the long run, more productive.

Here’s a section from a post I wrote a while ago titled Inside a Writer’s Mind: On Working with a Calendar. The focus of the article was about taking control of our time, but this particular section focused on honoring our natural rhythms. As we head into fall, which for many of us means an uptick in activity and overall busyness, I think it’s worth sharing.

Structure Your Work Life to Honor Your Personal Rhythms

Step one is recognizing you have a rhythm. A friend of mine, who works a full-time job in a different field, writes during his train commute to and from work. He plugs in the ear buds and hits an impressive daily word count. Another friend works late into the evening, when the house is quiet and everyone else is asleep.

Writing, in one capacity or another, is my full-time job now, and I’m learning a great deal about rhythm. For example, I’m productive with task-oriented items like scheduling social media in the morning, but I couldn’t solve a plot tangle before noon to save my life. Likewise, I have to keep things simple on Fridays because I’m pretty worn out, but I can often get some solid creative writing in over the weekend.

When I’m drafting a novel, I need several uninterrupted hours for my creativity to flow and to hit my daily word count. It’s tricky for me to work one hour without interruption never mind four, but I know this is what I need to do. Draft weeks wind up with a unique rhythm, and I’m often hiding at Starbucks to make it work!

I’m also noticing a rhythm to the year. Summers are busy with cons and conferences, so I can’t plan to draft a novel, but I can write blog posts and short stories. In the fall, when everyone is back to school and out of the house, I’m ready to find those uninterrupted hours and renew my affection for chai lattes.

There’s no right way to schedule your time, only the way that works best for you. When I respect my natural rhythms and organize my work life around them, I find I’m much more productive, and certainly much happier.

Here’s a link to the whole article: Inside a Writer’s Mind. Even though I wrote it with other creative types in mind, the tips come from my work as a teacher, school administrator, mom, and eventually, writer. I hope they’re helpful. Enjoy these last few days of summer!