 |
| A photo from a day of pause I took at the end of summer. |
Writing has its ebbs and flows.
This week I’ve also received three rejection letters from two contests I entered and had high hopes for. This included two short stories and one essay. My young adult novel also did not rise in the ranks of the Wattpad.com “Watty” Awards, so to be honest, I’m feeling pretty down in the dumps about my lack of progress.
I also just came off a freelance project that turned out to be more of an undertaking than I was prepared for and required me to read and review a stack of novels. I haven’t read anything for my personal pleasure this summer, and it’s wearing on me.
I’ve learned an important lesson. Don’t take on a project or gig just because you can. You have to weigh the pros and cons of whether the benefits are worth your time. In my case, they didn’t turn out to be in the above project. But, I’m a woman of my word and I strive to bring integrity to my work, even when I realize I made a mistake accepting it.
Even though I should be working on my next deadline for my day job, I’ve tried to give myself grace this week. There are tumbleweeds of dog hair piled up on the hardwood floors and while the laundry is clean, it is still in piles to be sorted and put away. My desk is overflowing with notes and papers. While I was tempted to stay in and hermit this week, out of the blue one of my writers at the magazine I work for urged me to meet her for lunch today. She writes our food column and we met at local café, where we sat on the patio and I indulged in a grilled white bean hummus sandwich with gooey slices of mozzarella, spinach and a side of homemade pickle chips. Before I left, she gave me a bar of one of her favorite dark chocolate brands, and I went on my way.
As I sit here reflecting, I’m almost in tears. After feeling sorry for myself, this person took time out of her week to connect with me and talk to me about our kids, our work, our shared love of food. She gave me a gift when I should be gifting her for all the work she does for me!
This will be something I put in my gratitude journal tomorrow. For now, I’m not rushing to clean off my house. I know the rest of the week will be full of meetings and a work reception. There will be plenty of time to meet my next big deadline. But there will not always be plenty of time to take care of myself, even if I say it’s something I prioritize.
Sometimes it’s okay to take a pause in your work—to put the phone aside, shut the computer, and flip over your to-do list. For me, I’m going to search out one of the novels I purchased this summer but never got the chance to read. Even if it’s only for a few hours.
Can you tell when it’s time to take a pause in your writing and work? What do you do to unwind and decompress?
Renee Roberson is an award-winning freelance writer and magazine editor who loves to indulge in dark chocolate, true crime documentaries and thriller/suspense novels.
