Following a Writing Passion

I woke up the other morning with the revelation burned into my thoughts. The energy from the concept had me bouncing off the walls even before I added the two cups of coffee. My husband arrived home with me bursting at the seams just to share what I had discovered.

“I realized something this morning.”

You could tell he was intrigued – and a little frightened. He had that same look he gets when I start my thought with the words, “I was thinking.”

“What did you realize?” He tried not to cringe under the words.

“I am supposed to write.”

My revelation was not as ground breaking for him as it had been for me. “I thought that was what you were doing.”

The words that I used to describe my epiphany did not have the enlightening effect that the revelation had on me. Yes, I had been writing. Yes, I write almost every day. But there is more to writing that putting words on paper.

Keys to Following a Writing Passion

– write more of my heart. I currently write for pay, and that is not a bad gig. I get to learn new topics and stretch my abilities. The problem comes when the work for hire overloads the ability to write from the heart. Creating words that matter has to be a priority for my day.

– get my family on board. The things I have always done may not be the things I should be doing. My husband and I have been talking through the different household jobs and working out a plan to focus our gifts and talents on those jobs. Just because “they” say one of us should be doing one job or another does not mean it has to be that way. When we are doing the tasks (around the house and in our lives) that we are gifted and talented to do then that leaves time and room for focus on other things.

– stop making excuses. Nothing changes until something changes and in this case the change has to be me. I will never be the physical condition I want to be until I stop eating frozen cookie dough as a snack and start getting out to play more with the kids. I will never have the relationship I want with my husband until I stop hiding behind the computer screen and start investing in time alone with him. I will never be the writer I desire to become until I stop putting off the writing and start getting words down.

Today launched NaNoWriMo and I stayed up until midnight with some other writing friends to begin tackling those 50,000 words. Their encouragement and cheering pushed me to just over the daily limit of 1667. I was reminded once again that the only thing standing in the way of my writing passion and me is me.

I am supposed to write, so today I am writing. What are you doing to make your passions a reality in your life?