Showing Up

Just over a year ago I was feeling stagnant in my writing--my fiction felt mired in the endless need for revision and I felt I couldn't practice the daily advice I preached to my editing clients. I craved some sort of life adventure that would awaken my creative senses--I didn't know what kind of adventure precisely, just something that would change the way I looked at things and therefore, hopefully, wake up my words too.

Then I got pregnant. The universe is no fool--it heard my plea and answered it loudly (we were hoping to have a child, we just had thought it would happen a little later down the line).

Woo-hee. Nothing like a baby to change everything. I was so blase before. I took everything for granted in my life. Now I see how incredibly lucky I am, and how wasteful it is to squander time or talent. I would give all my teeth to have several hours a day again to write fiction. I know I'll have it again someday, but let this be a lesson to any of you who feel you can't make time for your writing because there's too much on your plate. If you aren't raising small children and dont' have a debilitating illness--MAKE TIME. You have it. You don't even know how much time you have. If you sleep fairly well at night, then you can get up early before work, or write in the evening.

But do it. Show up for your writing life when you can.