People and Progress and Messes

I have come to an amazing challenge--new territory. Two days ago, I wrote a blog from the table in my kitchen. No one else was around. Nobody interrupted me. My clothes and my belongings and my books were safely and conveniently stored in their places, not buried in deep boxes; not over, under, and around beds; not scattered across every available surface area I covered with shirts and socks and music stand type random objects as I ravaged through everything I had not yet unpacked (which had been so carefully packed) so that I could find the shoes at the very bottom of a box that I needed to wear this morning for an appointment with a writer. What I thought was out of order in my life two days ago now seems like a distant memory of perfection. A wise woman once told me that your bedroom is a reflection of your soul, to which I responded with a dramatic wave of my arm across my room, "Well this is what my soul looks like!"

On remembering this as I walked into my new room this morning--nearly crying because I cannot get from one end of the room to the other in less than a minute--when I remembered that my bedroom is a reflection of what my soul looks like, I was terrified. Needless to say, this has affected my writing. As I write this, I am perfectly aware that covering my bed is a mountain of objects I will have to stuff into every inch of remaining floor space, that my mom and sisters are already starting a movie I am supposed to be watching with them, that there is a conversation in the kitchen on which I am managing not to eavesdrop, and that half of the family is not even home. It is wonderful, this challenge, this new place to write, because I will learn to make writing a part of my life and to fit it into any place that I am. Not only will I be strengthened by the onslaught of distractions, but I will also be loved and encouraged by the people who bring them.

I must also mention the incredible woman I met this morning, a free-lance writer who has made writing a significant part of her life, even with a full-time day job. I wish I could say I have become immune to the what's in it for me question that plagues me too often when asked to do something, but I haven't, which is why I am continually amazed by professional men and women who are happy to meet with me about writing, only to help me begin a career. They inspire me with their kindness, because I know that there is nothing I am giving back to them. I enjoyed listening to her writing experience and wisdom, and I am so eager to invest more deeply in my writing.

Well, my sister is yelling I thought you were watching this with us! And she is right. Writing is wonderful, but people first!