Do we need more reasons to write? Well then, I write as a form of meditation; to become so gathered in thoughts and the plot, that I can forget where I am, who I am, what time or day it is. Time rearranges itself to my activity, which proves utterly absorbing. After tapping away for hours – my handwriting is atrocious, these days – I can look up, blink, and feel refreshed to have been away from the usual tracks I pursue.
It is also good, in the depths of another episode of insomnia, to have something to show for years of broken sleep. Actually, I have my daughter to thank for the realisation that I rarely have insomnia these days: her baby days were so utterly exhausting, that I am quite well schooled to sleep for a minimum of six hours a night. Bliss!
And I have my daughter to thank for something else, too. My life, until she came into being, was littered with half-finished projects. I had lots of good ideas, but never quite the stamina or motivation to finish them, until my friend reminded me that she would pick up that habit, the, ‘oh, I just can’t be bothered’ habit from me, unless she saw me doing things differently. How closely children follow our example in all things!
That gave me all the incentive I needed to set a good example, which was unafraid to work hard, to persevere, to take frightening risks perhaps, but to finish. Finishing, as a motivation, has become an end it itself.
It is only by seeing our projects through to the finish that we prove our dreams are worthwhile. By finishing a job – no matter how small – I discover the best way to demonstrate the power of success to my daughter and set a good example.
Please share:
February 20, 2016 @ 6:29 pm
I’m glad I’ve found your blog, Fran. I’m much more of a blogger than other forms of Social Media although they are necessary to draw people to your blog! I shall read my way through some of your posts. In answer to this one, I write as an outlet for all the impressions and observations that teem through my mind every day. There is so much that is fascinating in the world around us and I love the sense of wonder that it still gives me, so I store it all up and eventually it is regurgitated in a memoir or a novel…it has to come out somehow!
February 21, 2016 @ 2:31 pm
Thanks for your lovely comment, Val. There are so many reasons to write, as I discover every day, each of which motivates us at different times. Yes, what we learn about comes out in different ways, and writing is one of the most constructive, isn’t it? I like to think it is a very fertile way to process 40 years of making mistakes! 😉