Writing is not a matter of choice. Writers have to write. It is somehow in their temperament, in the blood, in tradition. ~ N. Scott Momaday
Sundays aren’t just for God. They are for writing too.
Obviously I am being facetious. But after a Friday night and Saturday, Sundays are the perfect day to begin again. Why wait for the Monday blues?
I try to write every day, even if it is typing out a quick chapter on my phone, Dear Dairying it, or actually devoting a solid chunk to sitting in front of my laptop and knocking out a few thousand words.
While, I try to carve out solid chunks of writing through out the week. It is the weekends that the creative juices really start flowing, especially on Sundays.
It seems by Friday, my brain is fried. Maybe it is from to many two AM writing sessions -thanks The Muse. Whatever it is, I am ready to hit my head against a wall and yell bloody murder asking why oh why did I decide to become a writer – and a yoga instructor, and go to school, and have to have my hand in every caramel candy jar – The creativity needs a break and a recharge, unfortunately I can’t plug it in like my computer and wait a couple hours for it to reach a hundred percent again.
As a mentor use to say, “I need to detox to retox.” In this case, that means the creative goo in my head. To stop focusing on word counts, or deadlines. The fact I have to edit this paper or work on that chapter, or even update this blog. The pressure is off come Friday night.
I do try through out the week to cultivate my own forms of TLC and self-care with yoga, coffee, lots and lots of coffee, actually. But their is still that pressure I unconsciously put on myself. Week days are work days, thus I need to be productive. Have I mentioned I am Type A and OCD?
There is something about the weekend that says yes let’s recharge (and retox.) It screams doing something fun and adventurous. And usually no responsibilities.
So come Sunday I feel like a brand new Renaissance women. I can let the magic flow once more. I literally feel like my fingers have jet packs on them, as they race across the keyboard with the hundreds of ideas that suddenly crashed through the proverbial wall I was hitting my head against.
As artists we have to cultivate the craft, and that includes taking the pressure off and letting what flows, happen. If it is monsoon, fabulous, but if it is a drought, accept it. Accepting the off days, it means we are pushing ourselves, and depleted the juice like we do our phones every day. If that is the case, go for a walk, spoil yourself and buy a beignet.
You might be surprised at what comes to mind when you sit back at your computer.
What do you do to recharge the creativity juice?
