It’s been a while since my last blog. This could be taken as a positive or negative depending on how you look at it. On the one hand, it is because I am so busy, and on the other, it is also because I have been snowed under.
The crisis that the world is experiencing at the moment has been an eye-opener on so many levels. One thing that I have decided on a personal level is that I need to learn when enough is enough. Sometimes I take on more than I can handle. Sometimes I fail, other times I succeed. What I do need to learn though is when to say no.
Having the kids at home affects the writing process on many levels. First, my workspace is no longer solely mine. The day can be started with the best of intentions, but if they need something, everything gets dropped because, quite rightly, they come first. So when they knock (or more often don’t) I am always going to drop what I’m doing to help them out.
There is also the fact that there is always more mess and housework when they’re here. That is to say that clothes and dishwashing elevate to scary levels. As much as I am told that they could be contributing (they’re 14 and nearly 16 respectively) I still somehow manage to end up spending time either picking up after them or chasing them around to get it done.
Writing is important to me. I love writing, but other than the small snippets that I manage to scrawl down every day I am not getting the chance to do what I love.
If I’m not editing I am reading. If I’m not doing either of those things I am looking after everyone else, with no time to look after myself.
But you know what? I wouldn’t change having them here with me during these strange days, at all. The coronavirus may have brought about the weirdest of times, but I can still make this work. I may not be able to always do what I love, but I am with those I love, and that is so important right now.
I just need to learn my limits and start to say no before I run myself into the ground.
T.F. Webb 