Guilty!
Hi all . . . back from a trip to see my father and mother. Tomorrow he has surgery so think good thoughts. I am exhausted but it was great to see them . . . and now I am trying to catch up at home. It's a matter of prioritizing--laundry from me and three of my four kids gone for a week, unpacking, cleaning, brushing the dogs who are shedding like mad. Blah, blah, blah.
Which brings me to this post.
How do you prioritize writing in your life? Because I have a confession to make . . . even though I make my living and am the breadwinner . . . solely through writing fiction, writing still feels like a guilty pleasure to me. It was fun and something I played with for so long, and it always felt like a treat. Now that it pays the bills, it hasn't lost that feeling. Thus, to be honest, I have to WORK at putting it up high on my to-do list. My priority list. My ME list.
I was a classic overachiever my whole life. Crammed two years of high school together to graduate early. Skipped 5th grade. Was the editor who dragged my a** to the office even when deathly ill. I could NEVER call in sick just to call in sick or play hookey. I was practically IN labor with child #2 before I took maternity leave, with my department's assistant yelling at me to get out the door. I routinely put my kids first. Ahead of me. If money was ever tight, I always gave up haircuts for myself for violin lessons for child #1. No contest. I drove a crappy car for a long time so she could study with the bext teacher around. I got a gift of a day at the spa from someone who felt I needed it. The gift certificate EXPIRED before I went.
You get the idea. Some of it is being an overachiever. Some of it is being a woman (we are, I think, more prone to put others first). Some of it is being a mom.
AND . . . I think it's even MORE tempting to put writing lower on the priority list sometimes when you haven't sold a book yet because well . . . the "real" job gets in the way.
Guilt. That's what plagues me sometimes.
But I am here to say that writing is like exercise for your soul. If you ARE a writer, as in you know you could no sooner give up writing than you could breathing, regardless of where you are in your career, then it's important to TREAT it as a soul-sustaining part of your life. Make it a priority.
No guilt here.
Okay?
Thoughts?
Which brings me to this post.
How do you prioritize writing in your life? Because I have a confession to make . . . even though I make my living and am the breadwinner . . . solely through writing fiction, writing still feels like a guilty pleasure to me. It was fun and something I played with for so long, and it always felt like a treat. Now that it pays the bills, it hasn't lost that feeling. Thus, to be honest, I have to WORK at putting it up high on my to-do list. My priority list. My ME list.
I was a classic overachiever my whole life. Crammed two years of high school together to graduate early. Skipped 5th grade. Was the editor who dragged my a** to the office even when deathly ill. I could NEVER call in sick just to call in sick or play hookey. I was practically IN labor with child #2 before I took maternity leave, with my department's assistant yelling at me to get out the door. I routinely put my kids first. Ahead of me. If money was ever tight, I always gave up haircuts for myself for violin lessons for child #1. No contest. I drove a crappy car for a long time so she could study with the bext teacher around. I got a gift of a day at the spa from someone who felt I needed it. The gift certificate EXPIRED before I went.
You get the idea. Some of it is being an overachiever. Some of it is being a woman (we are, I think, more prone to put others first). Some of it is being a mom.
AND . . . I think it's even MORE tempting to put writing lower on the priority list sometimes when you haven't sold a book yet because well . . . the "real" job gets in the way.
Guilt. That's what plagues me sometimes.
But I am here to say that writing is like exercise for your soul. If you ARE a writer, as in you know you could no sooner give up writing than you could breathing, regardless of where you are in your career, then it's important to TREAT it as a soul-sustaining part of your life. Make it a priority.
No guilt here.
Okay?
Thoughts?
Labels: prioritizing
posted by Erica Orloff at 3:16 PM
16 comments
