On this past Sunday, I packed up my car (my husband was and still is in Nashville visiting family), drove 5 hours from Norfok, CT, to Harrisburg, PA, spent the night at my parents’ house, and then drove 8+hours thanks to traffic and accidents to Durham, NC, to take care of two very cute dogs for this coming week. Thus, this post is a day late but definitely not a dollar short as I spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to say, and really, it all comes down to time.
I was in Harrisburg for less than 18 hours. I thought about writing my blog post Monday morning so I could post it before I got on the road.
Instead, I made the choice to do one of my favorite things when I’m home.
I played a game of Scrabble with my Mom and even though I was ahead for 16 straight rounds she came back in the final two plays to take the lead and win by over 20 points.
We also watched the Showcase Showdown on the Price Is Right, another standard practice for when I’m in Harrisburg. I overbid on two computer tablets, a trip to Belize, and a trip to Switzerland and she won a trip to South Carolina, an outdoor fire pit, and a car.
It was a tough choice in the moment; no, not whether to bid or pass on Showcase #1, but to put off writing my Monday post this week. One of my goals with this blog is to make sure I practice writing on a regular basis, particularly across different types of genre, and the recovering perfectionist in me felt like I was letting myself down.
I suppose what I’m afraid of is if I don’t write my post one day, then I might not write it a second day, which could turn into a third day, and before I know it weeks will have gone by without me writing anything. This concern is not without merit, as last year I stopped writing for a few months when I got distracted with work and meeting and marrying my husband.
It’s also happened as of late with working out and when we moved to CT, I prioritized fitting in my writing (I AM GOING TO FINISH A NOVEL THIS YEAR) over other things and it started becoming an either or with writing or exercise and exercise ended up losing out.
So I had a choice to make on Monday morning and when it came time to decide how to spend my time, I went with the choice that made my heart happiest.
I ignored the “shoulds” in my brain about sticking with deadlines and meeting my writing goals and let them go.
Now that it’s Tuesday, what are the consequences of this decision for my writing? With my blog post – none, really, as I’m writing my post now and it will be published soon. With my other writing – also, good, as I had 7+ hours in a car yesterday to simply let my mind wander and I’m delighted to report I’ve come up with several great story ideas, as well as solidified the draft language of a query letter for the middle grade novel I’m half-way done with.
Do I have any regrets about my decision? Only one – we didn’t get to play Scattegories!