{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real} – and an Update About Writing
~Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life, as inspired by the women at Like Mother, Like Daughter~
First, the update promised by the title, and then on to the regularly-scheduled {phfr} post:
For the past few months, I’ve been telling myself it’s time to get back to writing. I had a good habit going this spring, one in which I was consistently using naptime to pump out the words, but something happened over the summer (as it frequently does) and all of that creativity came screeching to a halt.
Well, as you may have noticed, here we are near the end of September, and nothing much has changed. I contemplated doing the Write 31 Days challenge again this year, hoping the accountability and the dailiness of it might spur me into action, but when I mentioned it to Jonathan, he shook his head.
“I think you need to decide what writing you want to do, and then focus on that, and that alone.”
He’s right, of course. My lack of focus has been a large part of my problem over the past month: whenever I do sit down to write, I’m paralyzed by the possibilities. Do I write a blog post? A personal essay for submission? A short story? Or do I continue work on my yet-to-be-finished, very-very-very-rough first draft of my novel? I end up scrolling Facebook or turning to a book, too scattered to get anything done.
And so, an announcement of sorts: with the exception of the too-good-for-me-to-give-up (and too important for documenting this phase of our lives) weekly {phfr} posts, I’ll be letting this blog lapse so that I can focus on my novel. I realize that, from the outside, this doesn’t look much different than how things have been – but it’s different in the pressure I put on myself to write in this space. Hopefully, this hiatus doesn’t last long – I love blogging, too – but I don’t have the time to do both.
(On a completely unrelated note, the rules of capitalization give the title of this blog a very A. A. Milne kind of feel, don’t they? Hear ye, hear ye! An Important Update about Writing!)
Without further ado:
{Pretty}
I captured this shot at the park this morning. She’s a pretty girl, my Katie Joy is, both inside and out. (Despite the need for a bang trim, which she has been resisting of late).
{Happy}
Speaking of the park, is there anything happier than swings? I know the focus is off on some of these, and the framing is off on others (timing the shot mid-action is tricky!), but the evident glee warrants posting them anyway.
In other news: Katie has a cheesy grin, too. Do these girls get that from their mom or from their dad? I’ll never tell.
{Funny}
My kids have never been ones to fall asleep random places, but poor Abby is transitioning from two naps to one. On Saturday, she was doing well until we put her in her high chair for an early lunch. She was Just. So. Tired. Even the tantalizing taste of peaches couldn’t keep her awake.
{Real}
The plague swept through here the past few weeks. Abby and I got off easy (I hope! As long as there isn’t more to come): we had mild head colds at the beginning of last week. Poor Katie suffered more – she was lethargic and limp with a high fever all of Friday, refusing any offers of food or drink. Thankfully, she perked up a bit at the offer of a popsicle (“No, Abby,” she said, when her sister crawled over to investigate, “Only sick people get popsicles.”), making me ever-so-grateful for freezers and for children’s Tylenol.
The girls were kind enough to share with their daddy – Jonathan had symptoms similar to Katie’s Saturday night into Sunday morning. Here’s hoping things have run their course and we can all stay healthy for a bit. As Katie observed on Friday afternoon, “Being sick is no fun!”
Those are some of the {pretty, happy, funny and real} moments around here this week. What about you? Capture any contentment lately?
Jenn, I’ve been struggling with the same writing conundrum. I have so much happening outside of writing that when I actually find a chunk of time to dedicate to writing, I’m at a loss for what to do, just as you said, the book, the blog, submission pieces?? My blog has obviously been suffering from my inconsistency, and I feel that same pressure you mention. I think it’s wise to dedicate yourself to one thing. It’s what I know I need to do too, I just need to fully admit it to myself!
If only we had unlimited time to write! I think dedicating myself to one thing is a good plan – though trust me, I second guess myself on a regular basis. It was a hard decision to make, that’s for sure, but once I did, it was pretty freeing. I hope you experience the same thing. 🙂