Sunday Solitude

I took the day to recharge. I took a salt bath and breathed in the scents of my favorite candles. I wandered in stores where I knew I wasn’t going to buy anything and listened to my favorite music on full blast in the car. There was no planned destination. Just a day and a time. No ideas. The only commitment was to myself. And now I’m curious to see how this week turns out. I mean, now that I’m full recharged and ready to go! Where will my focus be? Reading, writing, building and creating?? I just don’t know.

Did you take intentional time to relish your creative freedom this week?

Sunday Solitude

Tomorrow is Sunday Solitude!

I cannot wait. I’m so tired from this week, and I’m ready to get some hours to myself. I got my books and my curiosities, and all the pens and notebooks I could ever need. I’m going to think and not think and sit in silence. I want to laugh, learn, and ponder the complexities of life. And take time to appreciate the simple things.

When you take intentional time to yourself, what do you hope for?

Rest is Essential for Success

I am several things and all these things want my 100% but I heard something the other day. It was, if you’re everything to everyone, you become nothing. So maybe I don’t have a completed storefront, I started one and I will continue to add to it over time. I don’t have a fully running nonprofit, but we’ve founded and maintained one (side note: that’s one of the hardest parts), I don’t have my BA but I have my Associate’s in Psych. I’m still going. I’m still here tinkering and progressing. I know you want me to finish and publish the damn book, I do too. I know you want a program tossed together and up and running, I do too. But I’m one human who lives in a world where burnout is a rite of passage. Honestly, I’m not interested in entering into anything that demands burnout for me to excel. No thank you. I’m taking my slow mornings. I’m serving my community in ways that make me and those around me feel loved, seen, and heard. And I’m prioritizing my values. This is the closest to free, I’ve ever felt.

My affirmation today (as a cap rising): I don’t need to be productive to feel worthy. Rest is productive and I’m always worthy.

What’s the latest with you?

Motherhood as a Writer

“Motherhood has a very humanizing effect. Everything gets reduced to essentials.” -Meryl Streep

I absolutely love being a mom. I like being around my kids. I enjoy helping them and guiding them toward their best lives while we all learn to navigate this life together. I also have my own dreams and goals, so I have to find a way to make some time to prioritize those. With that being said, today was a great day. I was bursting with energy, and my little one played with Play-Doh for hours. We sat outside and enjoyed the weather. Today felt like something my past self could have only dreamed of. So I took it all in.

How do you navigate motherhood and writing?

Write For Today

When I think about writing, I like to keep in mind how important the Egyptians’ hieroglyphs are to us today. I like to think that my writings will add one more perspective to our history. While it’s fun and inspiring and gives my work some razzle-dazzle, that’s not the primary reason for why I write. I mean, the world could end tomorrow.

That’s why I write for today.

I write to give myself a space where my voice can be heard. I write to learn more about myself. I write to encourage myself. I write for a million other reasons, but mostly because it’s a stabilizing force in my life.

I mean it’s always there for me: at the end of the day, lingering in the back of my mind, pushing me to think of my act of storytelling in new ways, and that’s not all. I’m sure you can think of some ways your writing is always there for you. Maybe it provides you a paycheck. Totally valid.

Why do you write?

Stories I Like

“After nourishment, shelter, and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” – Philip Pullman

I have always loved imaginative stories. They light up my life and give me so much possibility, hope, and excitement. I like stories of metamorphosis, love, and things that remind me how human I am. I like being around people like that, too.

What kind of stories do you like?

Hey, Let’s Hear it!

“You know what I did after I wrote my first novel? I shut up and wrote twenty-three more.” – Michael Connelly

Shut up isn’t exactly what happens when you write 23 novels. I feel like that’s the complete opposite of shut up. But I get it. Once we finish one book as writers, it’s time to get back to the desk and write some more. I just think it’s important to remember that writing is an extension of your voice. Your voice is worthy of being heard. As a writer, it’s never time for you to shut up. It’s always time for you to speak up, to research, to think, and to learn to use the tools that we have as writers. Please don’t ever think it’s time for you to stop.

What’s on your mind lately?

Writing Life

“There is no rule on how to write. Sometimes it comes easily and perfectly; sometimes it’s like drilling rock and then blasting it out with charges.” – Ernest Hemingway

I’m tired today. I had the worst headache last night, and it kept waking me up. Sleep is usually the cure for me, so the fact that it was waking me up was really frustrating. I feel much better after having dinner and a nap.

I like this quote because some writing sessions come easy, and some I want to toss my computer across the room.

How you feeling?

My Summer Entertainment

I never finished Mr. Robot, and now that six seasons are on Netflix, that’s probably what I’ll be watching for the rest of the summer.

My current reading rotation is Awakening by Nora Roberts, On Our Best Behavior: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Price Women Pay to Be Good by Elise Loehnen, and The Woman Who Would Be King by Kara Cooney.

All Fantastic. All sucked me right in. Best Summer EVER!

What are you watching? Reading?