As a writer I love to write, it’s just that simple and yet it’s so very complicated. Knowing what I love to do and finding the time and energy at the end of the day to do it is a whole different story. One, if I had the focus, I could write a book about. For the A to Z Challenge I’m just going to write a post about it.
Like many, I don’t do it for the money though the money would be a friendly reminder of my self-worth and emphasize my life’s meaning. I persist and continue because it’s what makes me happiest, even when I’m struggling. It’s a very different feeling inside when I’m facing difficulty with a blank page or a scene in a story compared to what I’m living through in real life. In a story I can easily find a solution and fit together the people who need to be in place for the ending to be satisfying and I persist through all of the muddled confusion to find peace.
Many people ask me how I do it – with homeschooling, working nights opposite my loving husband, writing freelance, balancing my son’s crazy schedule against house cleaning, etc and I honestly don’t know. There are some days I persist and prioritize like a master but at the end of the day I still lay awake horrified about what I didn’t get done. And it weighs on me, quite literally, and holds me down – makes me lazy and sad and overwhelmed but it also motivates me to find that extra few minutes to do something just for me each day.
It may seem selfish to some but no one else can give you the peace of mind you need to rejuvenate yourself and get up the next day to do it all again.
So persist, prioritize what is most important and sleep well, knowing you did what makes you happy and the rest can wait. And then share with me your tips on how you do all that you do.
Thanks for reading,
Sarah Butland
author of Arm Farm, Blood Day and Brain Tales