Writing and Family Life

Both my kids have mono, so things are a little slow around here. They’re slowly improving, and in the meantime we simplify and nap.

It’s interesting how writing flows and adjusts around family life, just as family life flows and adjusts around writing. I see this with my writer friends, too.

There’s a dual set of influences ­– what’s happening around me, and what’s happening in my head. Sometimes story ideas bubble up and words push to get out; sometimes my brain is slow and stories incubate instead. And this is all affected by the world around me – snow storms and sick kids and Christmas.

It’s vastly different than working in an office, where consistency is expected and often achievable. Creative work has a different kind of flow. Sometimes I love it, and sometimes I struggle, wondering when to push and when to relax. Under it all I sense a natural pace and balance I long for, but never quite reach.

My goal this December – to relax and enjoy whatever life brings, to write, and I hope, to find moments of inspiration.

Maureen