Monday, May 2, 2011

Being at Peace

Making up your mind feels good. After a small snag in the home-buying saga, I've decided to stick with Plan A - the townhome. I don't need a big yard or a pool. Everything I want and need is in the beautiful home I've selected floors, cabinets, granite, and paint colors for.

Settlement/closing date is only two weeks away, so this decision is timely, to say the least. The choice is made, but I'm still resisting. I haven't packed a thing. The thought of packing seems overwhelming. That said, I'm not worried. One way or another, me and my stuff will soon be residing in a different locale; one that holds only pure possibility.

This week has been transformational in several ways. First, the house. Then, my writing. Along with packing, I'd been stuck with my writing. I realized I have a story around it that goes like this: When I'm writing, the world is perfect. I have meaning in my life and a reason to get up in the morning. When I'm not writing, I feel worthless and I all I want to do is sleep. I know this sounds overly dramatic, but it's "true" for me. (In other words, it's what I choose to believe.) 

Over these past few days, a dear friend and beta reader turned the creative light back on for me (I'd apparently misplaced the switch), and I'm, once again, forging ahead with my women's fiction novel and finishing up edits on my YA book. Now, my only problem is,that I have to sleep!

Welcome back, muse. I love you. I love my life. It feels good to be at peace.

What do you do when you're "stuck?" Do you torture yourself? Tell yourself you're not worthwhile? Do you sleep, eat, drink, or find some other way to hide from the fact you're not doing what your passionate about? Or, is it okay for you - just part of the process? Spill, people, spill. Your words of wisdom are highly in demand.

Picture above I took in Rehoboth Beach last summer.

14 comments:

TAWNA FENSKE said...

Congrats on the home decision!

As for what I do when stuck, I've always found wine to be an excellent lubricant :)

Tawna

Julie said...

Can't wait to come see your new home! And you aren't alone, I've been running into "stuck" bumps in the road for a while now. I get unstuck and the skies clear, and then something happens, and oops, stuck again. I grumble a lot, tell my pups they are the only ones who understand me, and eat an obscene amount of bread. But even in the grumpy times, as long as I am writing, life is never all bad.

Love ya!

Debra Lynn Shelton said...

Tawna, I like lubricants, I mean wine.

Debra Lynn Shelton said...

Julie, I guess if we were always unstuck, like would become boring. I'd like to try boring for awhile.

Debra Lynn Shelton said...

Karen, I think the "stuck" times allow our subconscious brain to sort things out. At least, I'd like to think that. ;-))

Unknown said...

(Edit: Yikes, I wrote an essay!)

I always do the following:

1. STUDY encouraging posts or how-to articles about writing, things that get me excited.

2. READ something fantastic! Right now, Patrick Rothfuss is my drug of choice. Such glorious world building, character building, dialogue - it reminds me why I want to write in the first place. And if that's not enough...

3. WRITE a post about writing. About why I do this. About what writing does for me, about the fact that I WILL NOT QUIT, about the aspects of writing that have held my thoughts lately.

After that... well. It's a matter of doing it. I picked up a tip from Holly Lisle that about saved my bacon.

Write for ten minutes.

No distractions. No internet. NO EDITOR.

It doesn't matter if it's crap. What matters is it's fun. Write for ten minutes, without looking away, without correcting even spelling.

After that... I find my writing equilibrium is restored. :D

Jemi Fraser said...

Good luck with the move - it'll all work :)

I figure we all go through rough patches, so I usually tend to do something else when it's not flowing - catch up on blog reading for instance! :) Hope all is going well :)

Debra Lynn Shelton said...

Ruthanne, I want to be like you when I grow up. Thanks so much for the fabulously useful advice!

Debra Lynn Shelton said...

Jemi, I also catch up on blogs when I'm not writing. I often get inspired by a post and start writing again, which is one more reason why this writing community is so amazing.

Samantha Sotto said...

Glad you found your mojo :)

Debra Lynn Shelton said...

Samantha, Thanks! I'll probably lose it again, but that's the way it goes, right? ;-))

Beth said...

I'm glad you were able to make a decision. Now that you've done that, things will start to fall into place. It will give you the confidence to know that you can and will and must make those kinds of decisions, and are beyond capable of doing so. Yay for you! Now go pack a box. ;)

Debra Lynn Shelton said...

Beth, What's a box?

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