In order to get the time I need to write I have to not do other things I might love to do.
- I don’t sleep past 6:00 a.m.
- I don’t watch (much) television or movies. And if I do, I’m usually reading at the same time.
- I don’t scrapbook or sew, knit, crochet, or cross-stitch, don’t paint or draw. I also don’t do these things because I’m terrible at them and lack patience.
- I don’t have a garden. This is something I wish I had. I wish I could garden. I want to be a gardener. Alas.
- I don’t make dinner. Unless popcorn counts. Around here it is leftovers from lunch (our main meal) or fend for yourself.
- I don’t send birthday cards or any kind of cards.
- I don’t parent chaperone school events.
- I don’t keep up on fashion, music, or pop culture trends.
- I don’t fold or iron clothes. I don’t mend clothes either.
- I don’t decorate my office (scotch tape and inspirational photos and quotes do just fine but don’t look so lovely)
- I don’t have many quiet mental moments. The mind is always racing, analyzing, finding story, retelling.
- I don’t blog lately, apparently. Am working on this one…
- I don’t boil water for washing dishes or for taking hot showers.
- I don’t hang curtains or otherwise beautify my house unless someone else does it for me.
- I don’t read books. I critique and analyze them, figure out how they work.
Truth be told, I do some of these things some of the time. But I don’t do them nearly as often as I wish I did (except #3). And also, there are lots of reasons I don’t do these things, not just writing. But we all have to make choices and writing is one of the things I choose to do, so that means I also choose to buy a tomato rather than grow one.
How about you? What do you not do so that you can do what it is that you choose to do?
*this post was inspired by this blog post by Rachelle Gardner. Apparently we don’t do some of the same things.
*image via Wikimedia
I so relate to this Rachel!!! Sometimes I feel bad about the fact that i don’t cook gourmet meals (like some of my very talented teammates). But then there are those moments when they tell me they wish they could write like I can. And i tell them, I can do creative things with words, but i can’t do fancy things with food (or crafts, or interior decorating, or any number of home-beautifying pursuits). And i just have to accept that.
And it’s SO hard to shut my brain off. Lately I have taken to reading science magazines before bed. It’s my first love — a love from a former life. But it doesn’t ramp up my brain or prevent sleep, which even helpful spiritual books do, because I start thinking of ideas for blog posts and status updates and on and on and on. Must.turn.brain.off. Some people read fiction to disengage; I read science. I’m not a science writer;therefore it works. Because even in fiction, my mind races, looking for underlying life themes. Eek. It’s why I can’t write before bed, either.
But anyway, totally relate 🙂 Except, I still watch TV and movies.
Yes – two nights ago I could NOT sleep and I’m sure it was because I read the wrong thing before bed – read a book about writing and then all I could think about were my various projects. Need something else to calm down at night. I’m thankful for other friends who can help hang the curtains or sew things or make up for my gaps. I guess that is the Body at work, right?
Hit the bullseye. Spot freekin’ spot on. Oh yeah.
I know you must probably get tired of my cheerleaderesque oh-you-write-so-well, but Rachel, what a fun piece to read.
Totally.
Um, let me think about that for a second…Nope! Don’t get tired of it. Always thankful for you and your words, Dan. Both about my work and in your own. You are a Barnabas – encourager.
Great list! Funny, I don’t do many of those things, too. Curtains? Never! My mother-in-law just went ahead a made curtains for us when she realized after months in our house that I wasn’t inclined to do it. Although, if I wasn’t a writer, I still probably wouldn’t bother with curtains!
except for reading.
[…] But here are some of the ways I manage to read so much. […]