Life's Little Curve Balls

I absolutely hate when my weekly schedule is tossed to the curb. This usually happens on a Monday with the ring of the telephone or an unexpected email that leads from one thing to another. I like structure and balance to my routine. I like knowing that by the time I sit down to watch Castle on Monday night that I will finish writing a chapter on Wednesday and this blog on Thursday. Dull, boring, tedious; yeah, it's true, but it's how I manage to write one book per year, keep up with chores and family and enjoy the summer.

Such was not the case these past two weeks. Mother Nature threw a bad curve ball in my direction. Thirty minutes before school let out for the weekend my little one called from the nurse's office. He wasn't feeling well. I picked him up, brought him home and figured he had a cold. No problem. He had the weekend to rest, until the flu took over that night. I spent the weekend tending to him. We watched movies, played cards and snuggled on the couch. Monday came and he seemed to feel a little better so I decided to get some writing done. And that's when it all went south.

He developed a cough that kept him and me up most of the night. I swore he was going to hack up a lung, but somehow he didn't. That in itself was a miracle, but the four hours at the clinic the next day wasn't. Not only was he sick, so was the hubby. The hubby didn't complain, but just having him home and underfoot for the day wore on my nerves. By Wednesday morning, I was tired from two sleepless nights, but determined to crank out my chapter for the week. After staring at the words I had written on Monday and trying to jumpstart my muse with a good dose of caffeine, I realized I felt no connection to the story or the characters. That really irked me, because it was Wednesday and I had nothing worthwhile in the form of writing accomplished. And then I made an executive decision. Since the muse had no desire to work, I'd let it rest and turn my attention and energy elsewhere while I continued to take care of the little one.

Spring cleaning seemed to help relieve the tension of not completing a chapter for the week. And it gave me the opportunity to cuddle with the little one in the afternoon. We watched television--in my opinion, afternoon television stinks--and ordered out dinner since the hubby and I didn't feel like cooking. By Saturday, my son seemed to be on the mend. And then Sunday greeted me with a visit from the allergy witch. The congestion was terrible. Worse was my stupidity to go outside and work in the sage garden. Monday was more of the same. Yesterday, I began to make some headway in the breathing department. Today is even better. Now, if the weatherman could make all this wind we've been having disappear, I'd be happier than a pig up to his ears in slop.

You might be wondering what my jibber-jabber is leading up to. The answer is simple. Listen to your body and your muse. When life throws you a curve ball in the form of not feeling well, or ideas not flowing easily, it's time to take a break. As I have frustratingly learned last week, that break may be longer than a day or two. You may think you're wasting time, but in reality, you're not. When you sit back down at the computer, you'll be looking at your work with fresh, rested eyes and discover you and your muse are ready to get back to work. I recommend you take a break a few times during the year. Afterall, we're human and good ideas need a chance to formulate and blossom before we can get them correctly from our minds to paper.

Happy Spring everyone!