Your mind is full of wonderful ideas. You set a plan to finish all your stories by a specific date. But as you progress towards your goal, life… happens. And as you get closer to the date you had set, you wonder if you’re going to finish all of your projects.
Have you ever felt this?
I thought I would walk through some of what I’ve been thinking about, what I found has and hasn’t worked, and some things I found that I need to change.
This is a bit of a continuation from my previous post, Choosing the ‘Scenic Route’ to a Published Book, but there’s a hidden truth nested in between the lines.
If you take the scenic route to a published book, what about all your other plans?
Idealism Meets Reality
I am a goal-oriented person, and I am also an idealist and a dreamer. But, at the same time, I am also a father of three young kiddos, and I work in a fairly mentally challenging job during my day. (Oh, and I also have a dog, but he’s pretty cute and fluffy so it counter-balances).
I think it goes without saying that most people would like to spend as much time as they possibly could on the thing that they’re passionate about.
With that being the case, sometimes I find it challenging when I don’t get to put as much time as I’d like into it, especially when you add on the layer of people like me who like to plan multiple months, sometimes years into the future. Life doesn’t always listen to these plans, it kind of does its own thing.
As a stubborn idealist, I think to myself, oh well, I’m just going to do all the things. Doesn’t matter what’s going on, just do all the stuff.
But over the last year and a bit, I’ve realized that this is unsustainable.
I would like to write as much as I possibly can, but I found that there’s only so many hours in a day that I can spend on things like this without it taking away from the other areas of my life.
So how do you move forward?
My Life, In Practice
I write this as I am on day seven of a virus moving through my organ systems. (feeling better now, at time of publish, haha). During this time, I had plans to continue making progress on my poetry collection, with final prep ahead of publishing, edit two recorded podcasts, write this newsletter, and edit a short story.
I often run at full tilt, maxing out my day to accomplish as much as I can, both for myself in my journey to publish and to help support my fellow authors. But this last week, life swept out my feet from under me, and I have been laid out, unable to work on all the plans I have.
At first, I was frustrated and angry. I have much to do and little time to do it. Then I felt fear and anxiety. Will I ever finish my book? This sets back all of my plans. I had taken time off from my day job to make progress on my backlog of work. But all of those plans evaporated by this virus.
An Inspirational Pivot
Laid out with not much to do, I thought, and listened to audiobooks. After finishing my read of The Other Bennet Sister (an excellent cozy read) looking through my TBR I felt inspired to read a book called Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World by Max Lucado.
It’s a short read, but it packs a punch. Out of the many nuggets I got from it, this line stood out to me.
“Perceived control creates calm.
Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World
Lack of control gives birth to fear.”
by Max Lucado.
He goes on to share, as if directly to me, that people who try to retain control over the ebb and flow of life tend to be the most anxious.
Even as I just wrote about taking the scenic route, I find myself resisting.
I want to do all the things. I want to help all the people. But as can be seen, I am unable to do all the things all the time, trying and failing to do so from expectations set too high for this season in life.
Letting Go
So what can I control? What do I do with this info?
I am working on shifting to the flow of life, and instead of being rigid in my plans and getting battered by the waves of change and unexpected events of life, I am working to accept the things I cannot control in this moment.
First off, I’m letting go of this rigidity of my schedule. Perhaps one day in the future I can get back into a daily pattern, but for now, with a family of young kids and a high-intensity job, I must remain flexible.
Second, I remind myself that time is finite. There are only so many hours in the day.
If there are only so many hours in the day, the next question is, what are you going to do with that time? Last year, I tried to do all the things and I burnt out. But I don’t want to do nothing in this creative space, so what’s the in-between? Of the things we could do, what would we choose?
Which brings me to the third lesson, I need to prioritize the most important creative goals to me. There are so many things I could do, so many things I want to do, but what do I need to do?
For me, it’s this: Write and share my story.
When I boil it down, this is the core. As I may share in the future, I am learning that this is both for the exploration of my own creativity and self, while also for the joy, hope, and reassurance that these stories bring others.
Now as I’m looking at my July goals, there’s really only one: make progress on preparing my poetry collection for publication. That’s it!
Sure there’s a lot more I’d like to do, but only as time allows and only with a regular amount of effort.
So with all that, I set aside all other creative goals for now and focus on the primary target. And as life continues to do as it does, I go with the flow. Some days I make progress, other days I don’t.
Over time, I will finish. Over time, I will publish.
Finding Your Way
This post is a bit more personal and introspective than some, but I thought it would be helpful to others like me, to see me walk through these raw thoughts and come to a conclusion that I am at peace with.
Perhaps this method is just what you need, and perhaps there is another solution for you yet. Whatever the case may be, I hope you find a way forward in your writing journey, and I believe you will.
I will say, it’s not easy to set aside shiny projects, things I’m passionate about, to the side to work on later, but I have found that the whole of the day is more balanced in this season. And honestly, that balance will likely long outlive any sustained sprint that I try to push through with.
If this resonated with you, you can subscribe to follow along as I keep working toward publishing my poetry collection, finishing my novel, and figuring out how to build a sustainable creative life along the way.
Until next time, keep writing and stay creative.
Upcoming Live event with Glen
And if you’d like to hear more about what’s current and what’s next, I’ll be joining Saffron of Indiosyncrasy LIVE this Wednesday at 6pm CST, to talk about writing, upcoming projects and news, and generally about the author journey of us Indie folk!
Hope to see you there!
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