Having had a bit of a rant about gratitude the other day, today I'm clearly in a better mood, because I'm doing one of the posts I missed out in last year's gratitude challenge.
Today I'm talking about my job.
For the last ten years, my job was being a full time Mum. That was what worked best for our family. This year my youngest child started school and that changed. After 3pm my kids are still my top priority, but while they're at school, I get to focus on other stuff.
That has been overwhelming.
This six hours a day between 9am and 3pm seemed to stretch ahead of me, full of boundless possibilities.
But then reality struck.
There are never enough hours in the day.
I started doing all the stuff I'd not had time for - more writing, more crafting, more photos... and I didn't manage to finish anything.
But, you know, that's OK. I don't have to do all the things. Having the chance to do more has enabled me to categorise...
Making stuff and taking photos. They're fun things to do, but I don't lie awake thinking about them. I don't spend hours perfecting them. I'm happy for them to be good enough.
Which leaves writing. I now think of writing as my job. I do it every day, I wake up at midnight and write Villanelles (honestly - I woke up at midnight and wrote a Villanelle about David Bowie. It's here). I do lots of thought experiments, polishing up the worlds my stories are set in, and I've got the first drafts of two books.
I didn't say I was a finisher. But I plan to be.
The first book I drafted (working title is The Path of Brother River) had lots of rookie errors in it, and that's OK, because I was a rookie, but I've already started putting them right, and that's turned editing from a dull chore to something exciting.
The second book I drafted (during NaNoWriMo last year - working title is currently The Rarest Rose), will not need as much work, I don't think. We'll see.
So, I don't know when I'll get anything published, but I'm cracking on, and I'm really grateful to my husband for encouraging me to do this, and giving me the time and space to do it in. We need more good stories, and I hope to be a part of that. Hopefully, when I am, you'll buy my books.
Today I'm talking about my job.
For the last ten years, my job was being a full time Mum. That was what worked best for our family. This year my youngest child started school and that changed. After 3pm my kids are still my top priority, but while they're at school, I get to focus on other stuff.
That has been overwhelming.
This six hours a day between 9am and 3pm seemed to stretch ahead of me, full of boundless possibilities.
But then reality struck.
There are never enough hours in the day.
I started doing all the stuff I'd not had time for - more writing, more crafting, more photos... and I didn't manage to finish anything.
But, you know, that's OK. I don't have to do all the things. Having the chance to do more has enabled me to categorise...
Making stuff and taking photos. They're fun things to do, but I don't lie awake thinking about them. I don't spend hours perfecting them. I'm happy for them to be good enough.
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| The nine most liked pictures on my Instagram account during 2015 provide a pretty good summary of my likes. FYI the gingerbread people were modelled on the characters in Avatar, the dovecot is at Newark Castle, and the ripple blanket I'm crocheting is from a pattern by Lucy at Attic 24. |
Which leaves writing. I now think of writing as my job. I do it every day, I wake up at midnight and write Villanelles (honestly - I woke up at midnight and wrote a Villanelle about David Bowie. It's here). I do lots of thought experiments, polishing up the worlds my stories are set in, and I've got the first drafts of two books.
I didn't say I was a finisher. But I plan to be.
The first book I drafted (working title is The Path of Brother River) had lots of rookie errors in it, and that's OK, because I was a rookie, but I've already started putting them right, and that's turned editing from a dull chore to something exciting.
The second book I drafted (during NaNoWriMo last year - working title is currently The Rarest Rose), will not need as much work, I don't think. We'll see.
So, I don't know when I'll get anything published, but I'm cracking on, and I'm really grateful to my husband for encouraging me to do this, and giving me the time and space to do it in. We need more good stories, and I hope to be a part of that. Hopefully, when I am, you'll buy my books.
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