Balancing Act

Summer has officially come to a close, at least for me. As excited as I am to be a week into my last semester, it’s been hard saying goodbye to one of the most fulfilling summers I can remember.  After a week or so of consistently surpassing my 1,000 w/d goal, I’d chosen to increase it. It was elating to feel that I had a handle on the balancing act. Life, work, and play all had a time and place. Between the amazing progress I’ve made through the rough draft of Chasing Freedom and a week in Las Vegas, it’ll be a challenge to top the amount of fun I’ve had this month.

When school got back underway, I had to reevaluate my plan. Time in class, commuting, and the nonwriting workload for one of my writing classes caught me off guard. These things, in addition of personal life curve balls, have forced me to recalculate what I can realistically get done in a day. I’ve had to resume my original word/day goal and accept the possibility that winning NaNoWriMo may not be feasible. This also means that I may only have time to write updates and posts once a month instead of my usual two to three times.

Now, to be honest, I was exasperated for a few days by the radical changes in my daily schedule, especially the time consumed by things other than writing. But as Labor Day weekend began, I realized that this is time for me to practice choreographing a new balancing act. Life doesn’t stop happening for writers. It doesn’t say, “Well, since they have got a project deadline, I’d better not hold off on any surprises until they are done.” Quite the opposite. Personally, I’ve felt that it’s when I’m content with how life is that “surprises” appear, threatening to make my foot slip off that tightrope.

And I’ve decided to be okay with that. Better that I accept practicing writing in less than perfect circumstances now rather than when real vicissitude strikes.

I am reminded of the fountain show I saw while in Las Vegas. It would be a boring show if the same amount of water flowed through all of the fountain pieces, perfectly balancing their streams for four minutes. It takes the spouts changing pressure, direction, and sometimes stopping all together to make a beautiful and interesting show.