As I wrote in an earlier blog post, I really feel the need to write (Still. Must. Write. All. The. Time.). However, life doesn't always cooperate. This last week was very tough on me (and I didn't realize it until the end). It was filled with unusual appointments and extra "stuff" that kept me from the structure that keeps me sane. (A quick word on structure - as I've gotten older and more flexible, I hope, my life doesn't have to be rigidly structured all 24 hours, like it used to be. I enjoy and even crave the flexibility and spontaneity of life. However, I do need a little structure as a framework for that flexibility and spontaneity to thrive.)
Here's what my week looked like (This is the extra stuff. Also add in working in my business, doing work for my clients, feeding and caring for my children, and regular life):
Monday - My workday was filled with calls. My first one started at 9:10 a.m., and so there wasn't much free time from when I got my girls off to school and when my workday started. I pretty much went from 9:10 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. solid on the phone.
Tuesday - I had a chiropractic appointment (necessary to keep my back, and me, healthy), and I volunteered (as I always do - this wasn't an unusual event - just something that popped up in my day) in my daughter's first grade computer lab.
Wednesday - more school events (schools seem to cram as many events as they can into the last few weeks): first grade reading breakfast (a really wonderful event to attend!) and a volunteer luncheon.
Thursday - the first day of the current E-zines Made EZ class and a chamber board meeting.
Friday - my husband took the day off, and I spent the day with him before I went off to Virginia with Stacy Brice to have one of our famous work weekends.
Now, I get that I had a choice in all this. I could have cancelled appointments, chosen not to go to some of these events at school, reneged on my commitments, and not spent the day with Chris.
However, I didn't understand the cumulative effect of this week until I got to Friday afternoon, and I was angry over not having had any time to write or blog. Earlier in the week, I'd had a session with my coach in which she challenged me to do some different kind of writing to help me along my goals of creating something from my heart. Yea!!!! So excited!!!!! But I haven't had any time to do that writing. More anger and frustration.
So, I've had all this pent up inside me, and this morning I journalled (it may be a work weekend, but it's not all work all the time!). While I journalled (a much more detailed and in-depth view of this post), it occurred to me that with knowing I was going to be out this weekend, that I should have cleared my schedule. I could have had the space to do the work I needed to do (not much work got done this week, it seemed), I would have had the time in my life to do the writing I wanted to do, and I wouldn't have had to cut into family time by working at night in order to make up for my daytime schedule.
Writing actually helped me see the issue more clearly and to come up with a solution. I started out by cataloging my week (like I did above) and how I felt about it. The words just seemed to flow, and out of it came this lesson I've learned and how I can do it better next time.
The power of writing - and it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't actually made the space to write. That's a power I want to keep drawing upon.
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