Rolling with the changes

Tuckered out

Let’s just say that my stay-cation did not exactly go according to plan. For the first week I was too busy and in the second not busy enough. There were Christmas events, Boxing Day sales, cricket watching, golf playing, farm visiting, movie going and then my sister and her family arrived from Sydney. The new year came and went, followed by two very hot days which I spent hibernating inside with a book. Everyone went back to work and I found myself at a bit of a loss, my planning had only gotten me so far. I lounged around watching old episodes of Downton Abbey and reading.

Lots of work

I am now back at work and feeling rather better about life, the universe and everything. I clearly needed a good break – with some distractions and some quiet time. I did not get a lot of writing done. But I did do some thinking and reading about the writing life. I picked up “The Right to Write” by Julia Cameron (of The Artist’s Way fame) from my bookshelf and was reminded of the elements and challenges of a writing life. I do know what helps me write, but sometimes it seems that I forget. I don’t need great swathes of time. I am much better off with a routine – writing for a short period of time each day. Too much time and space seems to paralyse me, but squeezing it in seems to work well. So I am back to getting up early and punching out my 500 or so words on the draft. I find the regularity of committing time and effort each day rather reassuring. I might even go so far as to say it brings meaning to my life.

Time out

With my grand writing expectations not being fulfilled on my stay-cation I have been forced to revise my goal for the summer and beyond. I will get this draft done – it’s just going to take a bit longer. So my official plan now is to keep plugging away for the next couple of months, and then ideally be in a position to do a good first edit in spring. I am trying to give myself a more realistic goal. I still have to juggle work commitments, a raft of fun summer socialising and in a couple of weeks I will also be back at uni. So I want it to be a challenge but also achievable.

It's official!

I finally received my new business cards. I have no idea what happened to the first lot – lost in the depths of the sorting office perhaps. I phoned the company and they said they would reprint and resend them. So one morning just after I started work again I opened my letterbox and there they were. I am thrilled with them. I was concerned that the writing on the reverse side might not be very clear but it is fine. And I still love the design I chose, which is lucky because I have 250 to giveaway. I now always have a few with me – tucked in a pocket in my bag. It’s a small thing, but I do feel a smidge more professional about my writing. Another small step along the path to living the writing life.