What did you do today?
I, ummm... I checked things off of my manageable list. I used to put eat breakfast on my list. Not because I forget to eat breakfast, but because I knew that would be something I could definitely check off.
I'm face to face with that free time we often dream of. You know the "If I only had more free time I'd do (fill in the blank)" free time. It's not as blissful as you might think. It is often quite paralyzing, in fact. It's not a given that free time will be filled with brilliant achievement or soul cleansing actualization. Most of my free time is spent fearing that I lack what's necessary to fulfill the potential I have long believed has laid dormant due to life, kids, husband, details.
On my manageable list for the last two weeks has been "write." I like writing. What keeps me from writing is the How & Why. How will this be any different than anything else I've tried? How will it result in anything more than polite compliments from friends and family? Why go back to something this late in life when no one could possibly be interested? Why bother? How & Why. Those words curtail my free time into manageable lists. And there is always one word left uncrossed off on those lists at the end of each day. Write.
But not today. Today I set my timer for ten minutes. I'd write for ten minutes. And then that word will get crossed off today's list. And written anew tomorrow.
So, for now, I'll write until the...
I, ummm... I checked things off of my manageable list. I used to put eat breakfast on my list. Not because I forget to eat breakfast, but because I knew that would be something I could definitely check off.
I'm face to face with that free time we often dream of. You know the "If I only had more free time I'd do (fill in the blank)" free time. It's not as blissful as you might think. It is often quite paralyzing, in fact. It's not a given that free time will be filled with brilliant achievement or soul cleansing actualization. Most of my free time is spent fearing that I lack what's necessary to fulfill the potential I have long believed has laid dormant due to life, kids, husband, details.
On my manageable list for the last two weeks has been "write." I like writing. What keeps me from writing is the How & Why. How will this be any different than anything else I've tried? How will it result in anything more than polite compliments from friends and family? Why go back to something this late in life when no one could possibly be interested? Why bother? How & Why. Those words curtail my free time into manageable lists. And there is always one word left uncrossed off on those lists at the end of each day. Write.
But not today. Today I set my timer for ten minutes. I'd write for ten minutes. And then that word will get crossed off today's list. And written anew tomorrow.
So, for now, I'll write until the...
Exactly, Mary. It's been on my list for a while now. I did much better the first year I was retired. But a timer is my friend. A poet from the Iowa Writer's summer institute said she could bear cleaning her kitchen for 16 minutes. So she started there for her writing time. But she typically wrote for far longer. Maybe the muscles just need strengthening. Thanks for the inspiration. Jane
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