GIVING YOURSELF PERMISSION TO WRITE

Finding Time to Write:
Feeling Overscheduled?
Give yourself permission to say, “No”


Our calendars are filled to the brim with bells, reminders, things underlined or highlighted in orange – a neon banner of endless obligations. Some of these appointments and tasks are necessities. Others are tasks that we have either foisted upon ourselves, or that we have unwittingly agreed to do, simply because we feel obligated or guilty. But what about the times we feel drawn to do something that would benefit others? Yes, this is definitely a good thing, but not when our own calendar is so filled that we haven’t left enough time for our own lives, our family or our spirit. Put your “dedicated writing time” into that category called spirit. If you are a creative type, then your writing time is vital to your spiritual well being. Don’t allow everything else to come first. You will ultimately regret it.

My family is primary, then my daily responsibilities, projects, poetry readings, hosting literary events and volunteer work. My writing is stuck in there, when I can fit it in time-wise. I try to schedule writing time late at night or for those 2 precious hours per day, when both of my children are in school at the same, overlapping time. I am a happier mother and wife, when I have the right balance between “everyone else” time and “me” time. Writing makes me whole. It helps me to have vision. My heart relies on writing time to function. Having uninterrupted time to create, based on how I am currently processing life experiences and the world is vital for me to feel centered. I can breathe easier when I get things down on paper. Poetry might not solve everything, but it gets the images and thoughts out of my head and productively down on paper in a hopefully coherent, sometimes beautiful way.

Being able to say “No” releases the Girl Scout in you (I quit after Brownies. I’m not really a “joiner”). It’s freeing to put yourself first for once. We writers should do it more often. How am I ever going to write another book and get it out there into the world, if I don’t sit down and write? Sorry, that was meant to be rhetorical. It's empowering! Now, say it to yourself. How am I ever going to finish X,Y,Z … writing project, if I don’t just put bum to chair, fingers to keyboard and write?

Just DO IT!

Think of this blog entry as your personal writing cheerleader. Read it when you need to give yourself permission to create from the heart without stopping!

Cheerfully yours,
Your fellow wordsmith

"Calling Forth the Dream" by Cristina M. R. Norcross - A Tribute Poem for The Dreamers Center for Creative Arts in Delafield, WI

My poem, "Calling Forth the Dream," appears on The Dreamers Center for Creative Arts website, as a tribute to their goal of:

... inspiring hearts and minds through the experience of the visual, performing and literary arts.

The Dreamers Center for Creative Arts is located in Delafield, WI.

Read the poem "Calling Forth the Dream" HERE at The Dreamers Center official website.