Assignment number 6: Go Deeper >> As we enter into a week of silence and reflection and rest, what are some thoughts that need untangling with your own creativity? In what ways do you need encouragement to keep moving, keep writing, keep believing in this story you've been given?
I love to watch my baby sleeping. I wonder what he is dreaming about. I relish in the quiet. I relax and take deep breaths and stop rushing. It is like the eye of the hurricane. It is like the peace of a sunrise. It is a little piece of heaven for me. Because I am a little bit like the Grinch who cringes because the Who's make so much "Noise, noise, noise!!" I love that my kids cuddle, but I also get "over-touched"...if there is such a thing. I would like some space. I would like to sit and read...to sit and write...to walk and think- all by myself. I crave quiet- but doesn't every mother of a 2 year old?
The biggest challenge right now is not finding the time to write, it is finding the quietness of mind. Because even when the big kids are at school and baby B is asleep, I am distracted. I am unable to compartmentalize things enough, to sit down right at 1:00 and turn on the creativity for an hour. There are too many other things that are vying for my attention during my one hour of quiet a day. Too many ways that I want to enjoy that silence. I want to clean (well, not so much want to as that I need to), I want to call people back and have amazing un-interrupted conversations, I want to flop on my bed and daydream without little feet in my face, I want to eat whatever I can find that I won't have to share, and I want to be the boss of the remote control. Basically, while I'm enjoying my my silence, I am actually being distracted from what I really want to be doing. I really do want to write!...But then, why is so hard to make myself sit down and do it??
What I've learned is that the silence doesn't come easily. I have to set my own guidelines for myself. I need to have some rules to fight off the distractions. So, for the next week, I am going to wake up at 6 to do my writing- at that time at least I won't be calling anyone! I am also going to have a "No TV, no internet" rule for myself from 1-2pm. Because even though I enjoy that time, it is certainly not feeding my creativity, not helping my writing and not encouraging my soul. True rest comes when I am not distracted. In fact, if I can sit outside during that time, I should. Nature restores me.
I think if I'm able to adhere to my own guidelines then, the silence will become even more golden and the time more fulfilling to my soul.
I love to watch my baby sleeping. I wonder what he is dreaming about. I relish in the quiet. I relax and take deep breaths and stop rushing. It is like the eye of the hurricane. It is like the peace of a sunrise. It is a little piece of heaven for me. Because I am a little bit like the Grinch who cringes because the Who's make so much "Noise, noise, noise!!" I love that my kids cuddle, but I also get "over-touched"...if there is such a thing. I would like some space. I would like to sit and read...to sit and write...to walk and think- all by myself. I crave quiet- but doesn't every mother of a 2 year old?
The biggest challenge right now is not finding the time to write, it is finding the quietness of mind. Because even when the big kids are at school and baby B is asleep, I am distracted. I am unable to compartmentalize things enough, to sit down right at 1:00 and turn on the creativity for an hour. There are too many other things that are vying for my attention during my one hour of quiet a day. Too many ways that I want to enjoy that silence. I want to clean (well, not so much want to as that I need to), I want to call people back and have amazing un-interrupted conversations, I want to flop on my bed and daydream without little feet in my face, I want to eat whatever I can find that I won't have to share, and I want to be the boss of the remote control. Basically, while I'm enjoying my my silence, I am actually being distracted from what I really want to be doing. I really do want to write!...But then, why is so hard to make myself sit down and do it??
What I've learned is that the silence doesn't come easily. I have to set my own guidelines for myself. I need to have some rules to fight off the distractions. So, for the next week, I am going to wake up at 6 to do my writing- at that time at least I won't be calling anyone! I am also going to have a "No TV, no internet" rule for myself from 1-2pm. Because even though I enjoy that time, it is certainly not feeding my creativity, not helping my writing and not encouraging my soul. True rest comes when I am not distracted. In fact, if I can sit outside during that time, I should. Nature restores me.
I think if I'm able to adhere to my own guidelines then, the silence will become even more golden and the time more fulfilling to my soul.