Writer’s Day Out
Yesterday I did not touch my computer until 3:30 PM and it was lovely. In fact I only spend an hour on the computer all day and most of that was printing postage. It was so good. Even better is that I spent most of that away-from-computer time with other writers. My writer self so often gets shuffled aside with the press of other needs. She waits patiently for me to remember her and whenever I do, I feel whole again. Many of the other tasks of my life empty me out. Working on writing fills me up. I need to remember that. I need to spend more time with people who help me remember that. Fortunately my opportunities for that appear to be increasing.
The life pattern for this summer has involved me rolling out of bed and running downstairs to get work done. I spend several (constantly interrupted) hours in front of my computer first thing in the morning. I’ve been doing this in the theory that it is better to get the business stuff done so that I can focus on other things the rest of the day. The reality is that I emerge from my office tired and not ready to tackle much else. I’ve been using all my high-energy, high-creativity hours on business tasks. This is necessary when I am negotiating contracts or trying to solve a new problem. It is less necessary of late when most of the work is routine shipping and customer service.
The day before yesterday Gleek had a melt down at swim lessons. It was one of those events when I feel great sympathy for her sadness, but instead of being able to express my sympathy, I had to work hard to help her tone her grief down to a level that would not disturb everyone in the pool area or locker room. She has been increasingly prone to frustration and upset this summer. The scattered schedule we are maintaining is not best for her. I spent much of the rest of that day making sure that the kids had some quiet time and two solid meals. I even went so far as to be the you-will-eat-everything-on-your-plate police. Yesterday I made sure to feed my kids a solid breakfast and I stood over them to insure that they ate it up. The difference in Gleek was amazing. We emerged from swim lessons and she said “I feel all calm and new.” The calmness lasted through an exciting afternoon which included several hours at a park, playing at a new friend’s house, and then being babysat by Link. She remained calm throughout. Food makes a huge difference.
The park trip was an opportunity for me to sit and talk with two other local writers. I’ve had the good fortune that my kids’ swim lessons are at the same time as one of their kids’ lessons. Thirty minutes is not long enough for all the talking we had to do, so we arranged a park trip. We’ll have to do that again, because we discovered that three hours was not enough time for all the talking we had to do either. It was fun and it was really good to get my kids out of the house and away from the video screens for awhile.
In the evening was a Writer’s Night out hosted in Salt Lake. I was not sure how this would go since I was meeting new people. Janci and I both went. We had a wonderful time. As Janci said, it was one of those times where a group of semi-strangers sit down and become instant friends. We were able to talk writing and life and families, all things that mattered to all of us. I came away newly inspired to work on my writing projects with some solid ideas of where I can send them once they are ready. The next one is scheduled for July and I am looking forward to it. Even better, I can keep in touch with these women online.
There has not been enough writer space in my life. I love how events have conspired to introduce me to people who help me see how much I need it.