Eureka, I've Found Time!

I had an entirely different idea for a blog post yesterday—it had to do with Omoo vs. Moby Dick—but after (more) contemplation last night I feel the following is a pretty nice idea to talk about… so here goes!

Budget reconciliation week is, without a doubt, the busiest time of my month. Late hours and lots of number crunching make Randi a tired girl. During this time a marathon writing session isn’t exactly the first thing on my agenda when I get home. In fact, some nights it isn’t on my agenda at all. This saddens me because I feel like I’m not progressing quickly enough—that I could be doing more.

But you know what? Sometimes, life is.

In a forum post I recently read someone said, “If you can’t find time for writing then you aren’t trying hard enough.” I find this extremely judgmental. What about the single mom with three kids who works all hours of the day to keep them fed? What about the recent Architectural graduate who now has to put in so many IDP hours and take seven exams before he or she can be licensed? Finding time isn’t always so cut and dry. Sometimes, life is.

On the flip side, if you look deep enough, sometimes you can find that extra twenty minutes to jot a few notes down or finish that last paragraph. I’m not saying, “Hey, single mom of three, you’re slacking!” or “Fail your exams, recent grad! You have some rewrites to do!” What I’m saying is this: in some cases, for some people, you will find those extra minutes if you search in the right places.

Last night I looked hard enough and I found some. It felt really, really good.

I’m a video game nut, you see. I’m currently addicted to Harvest Moon. Tending to my crops while trying to woo Will by giving him pink cat flowers is soothing to me—repetitive, but soothing. Last night while milking my Jersey cow it dawned on me: If I can sit here and increase my farm points by cooking boiled potatoes then I can certainly get a little bit of writing done!

So I turned off the DS and pulled out the Macbook. I didn’t do much. I think I made it to a little over 500 words before I tucked in for the night. That doesn’t matter, though. I made progress, and that made me exceedingly happy. I was so happy that I woke up a good twenty minutes early to try and sneak a few more words in. I made it to around 250. Even though that number might sound meager I’m proud of it. It’s 250 words more than I had before, right?

My message this week is two-fold. If you think you don’t have time to write (but you really want to) reflect on your schedule and see if you can fit a hundred or so words in here or there. If you sincerely cannot find the time, don’t sweat it—you are not slacking off. Just keep those ideas in your head and eventually time will come to you. Remember: sometimes, life is!

Also, I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to read my words or leave comments. You are greatly, greatly appreciated. Just knowing that someone is reading what I have to say is part of what keeps me inspired. That inspiration carries into my writing and, in my opinion, makes it better. So, thanks again you wonderful people you! (Betcha never thought that just clicking on some random girl’s blog would make a difference, did ya?)

Until next time,

—R