Aha!

Ever have an epiphany? Something that is so simple and obvious suddenly becomes crystal clear. Like DUH!

I’ve been struggling for months with trying to balance everything – trying to do everything. Nothing was consistent except the constantly overwhelming feeling of being... well... overwhelmed.

Along would come a hailstorm of assignments and I’d feel defeated because everything sorta fell apart with the house, laundry and meals. Why can’t I do this all consistently!? I kept railing against myself.

Anyway… it hit me today! I don’t need to. I don’t need to do laundry consistently to bless my family with clean clothes. I don’t have to keep the house spotless every single day to keep it functional and peaceful. I don’t have to cook fabulous meals – my family won’t ever starve around here!

My life is like the tide – it goes out and it comes in. Sometimes I’m standing knee deep in work. And other times I’m standing on dry land and can barely even see the waves.

Sometimes I’m writing my fingers to the bone and then other times I’m sitting here twiddling my thumbs and beating myself up for not being more productive or making more contacts and being more consistent in writing.

Then when I am busy and writing my fingers to the to the bone and still trying to do all the other stuff that I do when I’m not so busy.

Like duh!

Why don’t I just focus on writing and my deadlines and do the basics – my evening routine, my morning routine, planning meals (keeping quick meals around in reserve for times like this)? And then when things quiet down I can go back to more of the things that I do around the house – decluttering, detail cleaning, laundry every day, and other creative pursuits.

The creative life is never consistent so why would I expect my life to fall into a pattern that makes sense? The trick is to apply what works when I’m not busy writing to those times when I am. Just do it in smaller doses.

Learning to live in the ebb and flow...

Listening to: Geoff Moore & The Distance
Pending assignments: 7! eeeeeooooooo!