Last night my husband was out of town for work, so I called a good friend. Ann and I are scrapbooking/crafty friends. You should see us pull out our tools and go to town slicing and dicing photos, cards, etc. One time she even crocheted. She is a multi-talented woman.
It had been several months since I let myself do anything creative other than writing.
I have to be careful because I get on these kicks and just can't help myself. Case in point: I do three albums at a time. One is the family album. One is Abigail's album. And one is Jonathan's album. Needless to say, if there was ever a fire, I'd have one aching back by the time I got all the albums out!
But in the push to write all these books on deadline, I've lost the ability to slow down. Okay, okay. Those of you who've known me are thinking, "And this is new how?!?!"
Even Sabrina, my dear writing buddy, was calling me on it Saturday. "Cara, we've got to schedule some writing breaks for you."
I know this is true. I really do.
But see if I step back, then I realize the family album is almost THREE YEARS behind. Eck! Now my fingers are itching to get that album caught up. I was HORRIFIED when I realized it was that bad. I have 100s of photos on my computer that I haven't printed, simply because I don't want to feel that far behind. Plausible deniability. If I can't see the photos, then they're really not late. We attorneys can make anything sound almost logical.
God calls us to rest.
I know it. I've read all the scriptures about Sabbath rests. But, to be brutally honest, I stink at taking them. I live with this sense of urgency that I can't explain.
I feel there is so much to do, that I have a hard time slowing down. That's why our vacation to North Carolina was tailor made. No internet. Turned off the cell phone -- most of the time. Even took three whole days off from writing -- then deadline fever kicked in again.
So how do you do it? Are any of you experts at finding balance? Even though my deadlines are technically behind me and my agent has told me to take my time, I feel this internal pressure building up again. One more contract. I only have one more contract to fulfill. Must write lots of proposals. Get these ideas down on paper. Pitch them to the right people. Let my agent work her magic.
I only have ten more years to pour into Abigail before she likely heads off to college. Jonathan wants to read, so must teach him 15 syllable words -- TODAY.
You get the picture. Help! And if you know of any long scrapping events in my neck of the woods, let me know. I could use oh about 72 hours to get caught up :-)
1 comment:
You know I thought about this a lot this weekend. I do believe you’re the type of
personality that you will have to schedule your writing breaks or it will consume you.
Seriously, you need those times to refresh yourself.
However, that being said, you’re at a place right now where you’re building a writing career from the ground up. You’re doing everything you can to make it a success and it’s working. This is like your college years of writing, so to speak. I believe in a couple years, after you’ve sold Cherry Hill and possibly this new WWII series, then you’ll be able to be in a structured writing regimen. Things will get a little less hectic and you’ll know when to best weave in your free times and breaks.
As for the scrapbooking, I envy you, I saw the albums at your house and wondered if you scrapbooked. I have no patience for it but am in awe of those that spend the time doing it. I do quilt and love it, but like you, I’ve not had much free time to do it. I owe Tanner a quilt for Christmas so I’m planning to take a break from writing this fall to get it completed. ;)
Sorry for the long post. LOL.
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