Committing to Creativity

I've mentioned before that there was a period in my life (almost ten years) where I did absolutely NO writing and, quite frankly, it sucked. When I committed myself to making writing a part of my world again, I promised to do it as "often as I could." It was a flimsy promise. I found myself skipping writing days because I knew the work could be put off. At first I thought that sluggish writing was better than not writing at all but eventually, I came to realize that it wasn't satisfying enough. I owed it to myself to do better.

The promise changed a couple of years ago when I decided to expand my creative horizons. I promised myself to write Monday through Friday with weekends off and it worked well for me. The quality of my work changed because of it. One of my closest friends, RC, told me just last week that she could see a lot of development and growth in my writing.

The vow has changed again. I now write every day except for Sunday. I've become an advocate of writing and reading daily because it keeps my creative mind open. I don't always get to write 5,000 words or read lotsa chapters in whatever books are on my reading list or nightstand. Some days, the most I do is a quick journal entry about a dream or idea and reading is limited to catching up on a few friends' blogs but I am doing something every day.

I know that sometimes it's hard to fit everything into our hectic schedules but doing something you love is important so you've gotta make room for it. I'm glad that I've been able to commit myself to a creative life. It hasn't been easy but it's been worth it! It's helped me to learn more about myself and has trained my brain to work in bolder, broader strokes. It feels good to be creative every day!

Smiling,

~Valeka

Birthday

Today is my birthday.  It's a big milestone birthday (though I won't say exactly how much of a milestone it is).  I don't do well with birthdays when they belong to me.

I like celebrating others birthdays and doing things to make them feel special.  When it comes to me, I would prefer sleeping in and letting the day pass me by.  It's become more that way now that I am getting older. 

And my parents came to visit.  What should be a fun, enjoyable time quickly goes sour.  My dad begins pouting, doesn't want to do anything that I would like to do and he makes it VERY known that he would rather be home watching TV instead of doing the things that I enjoy. 

It's upsetting.  It makes me not want to celebrate with them.  The flipside of that is that I know that life itself is very limited and we don't know how much time any of us have left.  Who knows what next year holds for any of us. 

But that's how I think.  He doesn't seem to and it bothers me.  Especially on a day that should be special for ME.  And yes, I would like for the day to be about ME.  I don't think that there is anything wrong with that.  One day a year.  It's not too much to ask. 

The day is almost over now.  I'm just going to muddle through, try to put on a happy face and move on.

Bummed,
~V