Day 2 – Writing
December 2 – Writing. What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it? (Author: Leo Babauta)
This is a funny question. This question assumes that I write quite a bit, does it not? And maybe it even assumes (this is likely projection) that I am living to write a story. Interesting. I suppose that I used to live to write quite a bit, back in the wild west days of the internet. I lived and wrote to gather an audience. I wrote under an assumed name. I wrote to collect attentions and to exorcise ghosts. I had a lot of time to live wildly and write with reflection, desperation, and about a million other adjectives that could be easily found with a right click to bring up my thesaurus in Word Perfect.
Now? I change diapers. I create meal plans. I cut hair. I answer email. I exfoliate and try to apply lipstick. I play peek-a-boo. I make empanadas. I watch my son chew on a pickle. I dance, nurse, vacuum, and work out. Sometimes I make it a point to look at myself naked in the mirror and tell myself, “Hey. Not bad.” I drink a glass of wine with dinner. I send out a few texts, make a few calls, and make sure to tell my husband that I love him (very much). Sometimes, I socialize, and when I do that, I do it really well. I think that all of these things could potentially contribute to my writing if I actually wrote in one of the three blogs I randomly keep on a regular basis. I’m not sure you’d be interested in reading any of it, but! I could. write. if I would. write.
I don’t feel as if I’m answering this question. Let’s push deeper! What don’t I want to tell you? Is that what this question begs? For my dirty secrets? Is this question wondering if I can quit the things that I would prefer to not speak about in writing? Well. I curse too much. I’m not always my most confident self. I sometimes think that I don’t deserve the magic things I have in life and, worse, I occaisonally think that I somehow deserve more.
So. If the question begs to know if I can stop doing these almost unspeakable things. I guess my answer is that I will certainly try. Bring on the try, twenty-eleven!
But. Y’know. I won’t make any concrete promises…
(Afterthought: Those right click thesaurus days were kind of awesome. I might bring back thesaurus abuse if I ever do start writing more.)
