I was recently listening to a meditation that posed the question, “What is your ideal day?” It asked you to picture from morning to evening, the series of events that would take place. Picture yourself waking up to do the thing you most want to do. What happens next? How do you picture yourself
going to sleep at night?
It made me question how often we ask ourselves this question, what would I like to do today? What would make me happy? I don’t know about you, but for me, the answer is almost never.
Of course, there are a gazillion different places I could go with this, but for this blog I’ll just stick to category of writing. I’ll admit, there have been times when I straight up did not want to write. Truth be told, it isn’t always fun having to wake up that much earlier in the morning to write before my day job or isolating myself in my office at night when I could be spending time with my husband or playing with our dog. Sometimes, it just feels like work.
What was interesting in the exercise of creating my ideal day is how excited I was to write, to create. If writing makes me so happy, then why is it that so often I am forcing myself to my writing chair?
I realized that the simple act of telling myself that I have to write, and that added pressure of self-inflicted guilt if I did not, was making me feel resentful toward a thing that I actually loved doing.
So what I did was change that simple little word from have to want. Because it's true. I don't have to write.
I want to write.
I am thrilled to write.
This subtle, yet extraordinary shift in my mindset has been so beneficial to me. After all, writing is supposed to be fun! I had to remind myself that writing is not that second job that you force yourself to do for the extra income. And if it is for you, then you might want to take a moment and reconsider.
Raise your hand if you’re writing for a living. If that’s you, then I applaud you and that is amazing. I hope that one day I can also be in those shoes. But for the vast majority of us who are writing in the wee hours of the morning or late into the night, striving to fit writing into the crevices of our busy lives, we do it because we just love it that much.
Speaking as a yet-to-be published author, we all hope for that huge book deal and advance that will buy us the Clark Griswald backyard pool. But the hope in this alone is not going to carry you through the trials and tribulations of redrafting, editing, queries, rejections, more queries and more rejections. Without a love of writing, we'd eventually throw in the towel.
We don’t just write, we are writers. It is a passion and an impulse.
If you’re also suffering from a dry spell or feel like your only motivation to write is that self-inflicted shame for not doing so, then I urge you to try this very simple technique. I don’t have to write. It certainly doesn’t pay my bills and truth be told, not a lot of people would notice if I didn’t.
I want to write.
It’s simple and sweet, but this affirmation is what I now tell myself before going to bed at night and in the morning again when I wake to write. It is a reminder that (at least in this category) I am living my ideal day, every day. And that makes me feel awesome.
That's all for today, hoppers! Thank you again for stopping by my blog and I hope to see you again next time!
Comments
Post a Comment