Balancing Act

          June is the beginning of a “diary’ summer. For at least this month, maybe all summer, we are going to write about whatever comes to mind. No set topics, no scheduled plans. You’ll get glimpses into whatever we are doing at the moment. You already do to some extent, but now the structure will be gone. The order of the posts will remain the same, me-Kitty-Shonna, but now it’s just a little more free-form.

          Lately, I seem to not be doing much writing. The first part of the month saw me start a new story. I wrote new scenes every day, discovering more and more about the plot and characters. I made good progress on it. Around mid-month something happened. I haven’t written anything since. Why? Because that is when my son, on leave from the Army, arrived. I’ve never thought of him as high maintenance before, but this trip he wanted a lot of my time. I loved it, of course, but it certainly derailed my writing routine. (Or at least I’ll blame it on him. LOL)

          One more day! One more day and I can have my routines back. LOL

          One thing you have probably noticed from my posts is that I allow people to pull me from my writing. Maybe a bit too much. Then again, maybe not. My family and friends are a huge part of what makes my life worth living. I never want to neglect important time with them just to write. But THAT’S the struggle. Just what are the important times? I wish each time I had to choose between writing or spending time with family/friends, the moment came with a label. “Important!” “Crucial!” or “Not Important.” “Worthless.” Or “Possibly Important.” Alas, the moments don’t come with labels. Some are too precious to ignore and memories of those times cause me to say “yes” to the loved one and “later” to the writing, perhaps more often than I should. But that is my choice. As much as I love writing and creating stories, I love my family and friends more. So I will continue to weave through life, attempting to balance and reconcile my two competing loves.

          What about you? What pulls you away from your writing? How do you decide when it’s appropriate and when do you need to buckle down, get to work and ignore the distraction?