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Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Stuff Happens


It has been my intent to post on this blog at least twice a week. I’ve done fairly well for the past year, but it had been 8 days between my last 2 posts. Stuff happens.
 picture credit:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cumbria/content/image_galleries/
halloween_pumpkins.shtml?28

You see, the night after my November 5 post, I was attacked, whipped, and totally consumed by a violent monster: the stomach flu. I can now say that I know what it is to be demonically possessed.

Two days later, my 91-year-old mother got it, and two days after her defeat, my 17-year-old son got it. I went back to work on day 3 after my bout with the bug, but between overwhelming fatigue, the extra work I had to do to catch up, and the additional care-giving demands at home, I had nothing left in me to give to the writing call. Even if I had had posts already written, I didn’t’ have the mental energy to open the computer and click on the “publish” button.
 image credit:         

My point is this: stuff happens that gets in the way of the pursuit of passions. We have to deal with it. But we also have to recover.

Recovery means no lamenting over lost time, no negative self-talk, and no succumbing to inactivity.
Creative thinking and production do not happen when I am sick, but the stories do not die. When health returns, we have to hone in on the sleeping stories and welcome them back into our conscious thinking. We have to honor those stories that flow in our blood and at least promise them our attention soon

My spiral notebook sits under my left elbow as I grade papers and prepare for the end of this semester with most of my brain and the activity of my right hand. Images, events, and descriptions that pop into my head as I work on the day-job work all get jotted down as they present themselves so that I can meet the demands and deadlines of my day-job while still paying homage to the pulsating passions that feed my soul.

This is just the strategy that currently works for me. If it is helpful to my readers, then go for it – give it a try.

Stuff happens. That is a fact of life. It is also a fact that we have to deal with it. Just make sure that when you deal with your STUFF, you continue to honor the STUFF that MATTERS!


Write on!

2 comments:

  1. Pretty lax there for a perfectionist, huh? LOL - I read your 11/5 post too. Sometimes you just gotta let it all go.

    Hmm, I've written that a lot today, My bloggy friends must all be feeling about the same. Probably a NaNo burnout thing.

    Glad you're feeling better.

    ......dhole

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  2. Glad you are feeling better! You are so right that stuff happens, and then we need to pick up and keep going. That is the lesson I am learning--and I blogged about it too. Hope to see you at Journaling! I'll understand if you're too tired though. Take care!

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