When my best friend died two years ago, her husband gave me her set of coffee cups. These cups have faces on them, and the noses stick out. There are four, all of different colors. I was so glad to have them because these were the cups we always drank out of when I was in Indiana visiting her. So as I’m sitting here this morning drinking my coffee, my mind is on my friend and how much I miss her. And how proud she would have been of me for getting the 20 lbs. off. And how proud she would have been that I’ve written so many books. And she would be so glad that I’m still good friends with her husband, author Jonathan Eli. I miss her so darn MUCH. I miss her sarcastic sense of humor and her kindness. But she would have wanted life to go on for me, her husband, and the rest of her family and friends. So even though I miss her with sadness, I miss her fondly.
Looking back at some of the things I’ve accomplished, I realize I shouldn’t be so frustrated about my writing right now. Don’t we all have periods where we slow down for awhile? I used to be able to release at least three novellas a year. Or two novels. Yet I’ve struggled lately. I know that part of the reason was because I was feeling so bad physically when my diabetes wasn’t diagnosed, therefore, not controlled. Am I just having trouble getting back into the routine? So many things have happened to hinder me, especially my husband breaking his ankle. And at my full-time job, work has been overwhelming. Not the best of conditions for writing. The past couple of weeks, I’ve really been trying to focus on getting my house in order. I’m really seeing how much work my husband actually was doing before hurting his ankle. I haven’t been exercising because I’ve been only taking 10-20 minutes for lunch every day. That’s going to stop. I HAVE to make time for exercise. I haven’t done anything for about two weeks. Next week, I’m going to make a point of taking my full lunch hour so I can go exercise. Then I’ll feel better when I come home in the evenings, and I can get back on the writing. It’s time to take charge. I can call those customers when I get back. Those sales tax reports can wait just a little longer. I NEED to exercise.
Those are my thoughts for today. Now it’s off to get ready for church, a place where I can forget about everything for a little while and focus on the most important things. 🙂
lauralynnelliott.com 
Hope you get the exercise in. It’s hard to get things going when so much other stuff is pressing in at you from all sides.
That was really sweet about your friend. 😀
I’m determined to get that exercise in! It’s time to get things done.
I miss my friend a lot. We were friends for 38 years.
Hope you get to take it a little easier. Life gets in the way of writing sometimes. Don’t beat yourself up about it.
Thanks, Emma. I’m going to try my best to get back on a writing and exercise schedule.
It’s amazing how much more energy I have when I workout. You’ll get there, and the writing will come along as well, and then you’ll be pumping out the novellas while I trudge along hoping for one novel a year. Heck you’ve already put out two novellas since I last published. I better get to work. Tomorrow.
Good luck with your exercise, LL.
I actually think I’ve put out a novella and a novel since then. Lol. Everyone doesn’t write at the same speed. There’s no right or wrong with that. 🙂
Thanks for always being encouraging, Chris.
Lauralynn,
I seem to cycle between non-writing times when I am gathering and processing information and story percolating. My house is a lot cleaner at these times, because hometending offers prime mulling time.
Then there is a slack time, where I write a little, and take in a little, and percolate a bunch. I can feel things building, gathering, coming together in new ways…
And then the surge comes, and, with some revelation, the words pour out of me, so quickly that I couldn’t stop them if I wanted to. The house becomes a shambles, and I don’t really notice, because my stories are alive in me, and they own me….
Then the slack again, and the refilling…
I liken them to tides. Ebb tide is the filling, slack the space between, and the surge is high tide.
It helped a lot when I realized that all three energies are vital to my writing. =)
I smile when I think of you using your friend’s cups and remembering her that way…
I’ve had some challenges with my exercise goals, too. Lately, now that spring is starting to unfurl, I’ve been taking at least a very short walk every day the weather is decent. The kids and the dog have been coming along, and I’ve sometimes taken the camera.
It’s a pleasant way to get in a little exercise, and often leads me to be more active.
It sounds like you’ve had a productive, building round to be proud of, even if it is a little slower than you expected.
See you next round! =D
This is something I really needed to hear. Thank you so much. It makes things make a little more sense. Maybe I’m going in tides as well. 🙂
You just made my day! =D
I wonder if we all go in cycles, and don’t realize it because so much of our lives, we have been required to live by other people’s schedules.
I watch my children, who have lived there lives school-free, and who live by their own, untampered-with rhythms. There are definitely times when they seem to do a lot of TV watching, gaming, and not much else (often after a trip or a time of traveling or intense activity). Then the creativity explodes, and they grow….
We’re conditioned, maybe, for something that does nothing to honor or support our own natural energy flows and ebbs.
Since I realized this about myself, I have become more peaceful with the lulls, and more productive,too.
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