Friday, March 4, 2011

Why Favorite Things Help Life Move a bit More Smoothly

I really enjoyed Laura's Favorite Things Blog and it got me thinking. I had a conversation yesterday with a friend about this exact topic. The reason why we started talking about it was because I had been noticing that my writing in general seems to be harder for me to get done these days as compared to say a year ago. Granted the past year has by far been the most difficult and stressful one that I have ever endured, which led my friend to his point. He knows that my work hours have increased but he also wanted to know what was I able to do when I wrote a book last year that I am not doing as much these days. The top of the list has to be Riding. A little over a year ago when I was writing my novel "Happy Hour," (which does have some horses in it and one very sexy cowboy), I was out with the horses almost daily. Just being around them is by far my most favorite thing and without it in my daily life, I find things don't function as smoothly.

The other favorite thing that has shifted has been cooking. I LOVE to cook. It's an experience for me that I truly enjoy. These days I still do a lot of cooking but the joy has gone out of it because of the time that I don't currently have to prep and create a great meal for my family. My friend pointed out that I don't need to give all of this up, but I have to schedule it in and stay true to that schedule. He assures me that my writing will benefit from it. He's probably right. Scheduling has never been one of my greatest suits but I am going to give it a try. He suggested that instead of making gourmet meals for my family each night that I do one on the weekend. I like that idea a lot. I also may not be able to have as much time with the horses as I used to, but if I look at the schedule I can make time. I am sure in the heck going to give it a try. How about you? What makes life seem to move at a smoother pace for you? Is there something that you do that makes you really happy in life?

I also wanted to share a picture of my fuzzy girls as well as the newly redone cover of "Saddled with Trouble."

Cheers,
Michele

6 comments:

Laura Crum said...

Is that with you with the mares, Michele? Cute photo!

michele said...

That is two of the mares and one old gelding behind them with me. The other one was in another paddock with her "dad." I will post a photo of her next week. :) They are pretty sweet mares.

FD said...

One writer I know of refers to this phenomenon as 'filling the well'.

And that is an adorable photo.

Alison said...

Great photos and blog, Michele. I think part of why writing gets harder to fit in is because the motivation and creativity comes internally. Rarely do I, at least, get external feedback for my writing that spurs me on. In fact, it's usually the opposite--a rejection of a story or not so good review or doubts about a character and ability to write something great. So unless I am deep into a great chapter or scene, it's much more rewarding to walk the dogs or plant spinach (it's almost that time!) Just a thought.

Gayle Carline said...

I've finally figured out how important CONSISTENCY is to my daily routine. If my week goes as scheduled, so that each day I do some riding, some writing, and play with the puppy, I'm happy. If my week has extra gunk tossed in that makes one of those things go away, I'm thrown for a loop. Seriously, if I've got a doctor's appointment on Thursday, I find it harder to write on Monday - Wednesday, knowing I won't be able to have my normal Thursday.

Maybe I need to figure out how to stop myself from doing that...

Alison said...

Gayle, I am with you but also am amazed you even have a day that goes on schedule. Mine, never!