I am busy these days. Really busy.
I am working part time in Austin which requires an hour commute each way. I pick up kids after school and cart them to various places. I freelance edit and of course, I am working on revising a finished novel and beginning a new one. And my weekends-they seemed to be filled with finishing all the housework and things I didn't get to finish during the week. I am forever trying to catch up and sometimes feel like my head is barely above water.
I don't mind being busy so much as I miss having time to think. You see, I am just the kind of person who needs long stretches of quiet, thinkable time. Maybe it's the writer in me, after all, good ideas don't come when you are running from here to there. Good ideas come when you have down time. Ever wonder why so many people say they come up with the best ideas in the shower? It's likely because they, like just about all of us, have no other time to think.
So the other day as I was sitting in Austin morning traffic, listening as always to a radio show and music, I decided to just turn my radio off. The car was suddenly filled with peaceful, glorious quiet. I let the solitude descend over me and then, I thought. I thought about my next novel. I thought about going camping on Spring Break. I thought about home and my kids and my family. My thoughts fluttered up to the surface where I could turn them over for a bit and let the next ones rise. No trying to make them stop so I could concentrate on my work or go to sleep. They simply had free rein to come and go as they pleased.
And you know what? When I got to my destination, I felt more relaxed than I have in months. It was the most wonderful part of my day.
So now, despite a busy schedule, I get a whole hour, twice a day of peace and quiet and thinking. It's a lot like meditating, if you think about it. Which, by the way, I have been told I need to do because of my unrelenting anxiety. But who has the time?
Wait, now I do!
Look, I even wrote a blog post, something I haven't done since December...
I am working part time in Austin which requires an hour commute each way. I pick up kids after school and cart them to various places. I freelance edit and of course, I am working on revising a finished novel and beginning a new one. And my weekends-they seemed to be filled with finishing all the housework and things I didn't get to finish during the week. I am forever trying to catch up and sometimes feel like my head is barely above water.
I don't mind being busy so much as I miss having time to think. You see, I am just the kind of person who needs long stretches of quiet, thinkable time. Maybe it's the writer in me, after all, good ideas don't come when you are running from here to there. Good ideas come when you have down time. Ever wonder why so many people say they come up with the best ideas in the shower? It's likely because they, like just about all of us, have no other time to think.
So the other day as I was sitting in Austin morning traffic, listening as always to a radio show and music, I decided to just turn my radio off. The car was suddenly filled with peaceful, glorious quiet. I let the solitude descend over me and then, I thought. I thought about my next novel. I thought about going camping on Spring Break. I thought about home and my kids and my family. My thoughts fluttered up to the surface where I could turn them over for a bit and let the next ones rise. No trying to make them stop so I could concentrate on my work or go to sleep. They simply had free rein to come and go as they pleased.
And you know what? When I got to my destination, I felt more relaxed than I have in months. It was the most wonderful part of my day.
So now, despite a busy schedule, I get a whole hour, twice a day of peace and quiet and thinking. It's a lot like meditating, if you think about it. Which, by the way, I have been told I need to do because of my unrelenting anxiety. But who has the time?
Wait, now I do!
Look, I even wrote a blog post, something I haven't done since December...