No More Excuses … (for now)

Jul 29, 2013 by admin

It is 4:46 AM as I begin this post. I haven’t blogged in a while. I haven’t had the time.

Time.

The lack of time has been my chief complaint of late. More than ever, what I want more of in my life is time … time that I can spend as I choose, to do with what I want. Here lately, what I want most is to write the second book brewing inside of me, but there doesn’t ever seem to be enough time.

Of course, we both know that’s not true. Right?

I’m not the only person walking the planet who is passionate about one thing but paid to do another. That’s the way it is some times … scratch that … most times. So few of us are lucky enough to earn a living doing the thing we love. If that’s you, then thank your lucky stars. If reading that previous sentence made you roll your eyes in disgust, then join the club but leave the bitterness at the door when you come in. Now … excuse me while I yawn.

Time.

When I wrote the first book of the Charis: Journey to Pandora’s Jar series, time was something I had in abundance. We had just relocated to a new city and I took my sweet time in looking for and finding a job.  For eight hours a day, seven days a week I could spend my time my way … for well over a year. Sure, I explored our new city of Seattle and fell in love with it one raindrop at a time. I got to know our produce guy, our butcher guy, our fishmonger guy, and my favorite baristas in no time flat with my daily visits to their stands and stores. I twisted and challenged and loved my body at least 5 days a week on my yoga mat at the ultra cool yoga studio just blocks from home. I relished in the freedom I had by joining meetup groups of every kind and making new friends, but mostly, mostly I spent my time writing.

During those days when time was fluid and obligations languid, I’d—with some measure of guilt—kiss the hubby good-bye on his way to work, make my morning calls to my friends and family, brew a fresh pot of coffee, crawl back into bed with my laptop and write, write, write.  Busting out 2,000 words became as easy as breathing. I mean, I was a woman obsessed … and wholly satisfied. No more did I ever have to wonder what I would do if I had nothing to do. I knew.

Time.

It’s now 5:04.

Now that I have a full-time job, I’ve struggled finding time to sit and write, especially to sit and write the sequel to Charis. I’ve heard myself say aloud and in my head where my greatest critic lives, “I just can’t find the time” so much it’s become my mantra, my safety net and, dare I say it, my excuse. When mentioning this to a new writer acquaintance, she delicately responded, “The key, as you already know, is to MAKE the time, not hope to find it.” She’s right. In fact, ‘MAKE the time’ seems to be popping up from writerly types everywhere I look and in everything I read.

I’ve stumbled upon a writer’s blog that I love and one of the first posts that I read was a call to write everywhere. I’m also reading Write Good or Die, a collection of essays by writers about writing. This little gem by Heather Graham snatched the lack-of-time pacifier right out of my mouth:

Working all day? Ten kids? Laundry? A household to support? Yes, it’s very hard. But be committed. If it’s a page a day, in a year, that’s 365 pages.

Okay, okay. I get it. And that’s why I’m up at 5:27 writing for the sake of writing. I’ve been doing this for a week now. Getting up at 4:40, stretching my body, mind, and will, and writing, thinking, and writing some more. Last work week, I accomplished just under 1,000 words in my second book.  I don’t know if they are words I’ll keep, but they exist in Scrivner now, and I’m proud.  I also managed to work out three days before work. I’m on my way to the gym as soon as I’m done here.

Time. I’m changing how I use it, how I see it. I can’t say how long this will last, but today I count this a success. And, I feel good about it.

I hope that today you find, I mean make the time to do something you feel good about too.

Peace and Blessings,

Nicole