When writing becomes a chore for me, I know there’s more going on than a case of WIP blues. In this instance, it’s been nine months of a month-by-month build up of bad medical or marital news relating to nine people I care very much for, topped off by my mom’s breast cancer diagnoses a couple of weeks ago. In short, it’s been a helluva a decade year, and through most of it, my writing was my refuge; where I retreated when things got too much because I controlled the narrative. But yesterday, when I sat down to work, I just stared at my screen unable to remember why I was supposed to care. What I was supposed to work on.
When one’s brain shuts down when confronted with something that is usually routine, or that usually brings joy… that’s a signal that one has reached maximum overload and needs a break. So, I made a cup of tea, and soaked in a two hour hot bath, and then bundled into my nightclothes and watched back to back episodes of Downtown Abbey. Today, I’m feeling a little a stronger. Strong enough to write a blog post, anyway. Maybe I’ll even dig deep and resume revisions on MOTL. What I’m not going to do, is add guilt to my cracked and overfilled emotional plate about what I should or should not be doing with regard to my WIPs, or anything else.
I’ll regain my enthusiasm and momentum in time. For now, I’m taking it slowly, and fitting in lots of self care, because that is what my body and brain are telling me I need right now.
Self care is critical, if one wishes to be of any use or help to those she loves. So, If you’re a woman over age 40 and you haven’t had a mammogram in the last two years, please book one today. Right now. Also…
Hot baths, tea, Downton Abbey, and personal days, are absolutely necessary and restorative measures for a body and soul hollowed by too much stress, work, and or, emotional hurt. Be sure to indulge. You don’t just deserve it. You need it.
Deborah
An hour of pain is as long as a day of pleasure.
~Anon.
