Monday, March 26, 2012

Jump, then fall

I've been a writer as long as I can remember. When I was in elementary school, I used to write stories about living out in the country. When I became a surly teenager, I switched to poetry, which I stuck with into college. During college I got started with a more "article style" format of writing. As a full time wife and mama, I rarely find the time to really stretch my creative legs. I'm very busy being Super-Wife/Super-Mama and I don't get a lot of time to just be "Eri".

But, something shook the cobwebs loose in my brain a few days ago and I found myself yearning to get some emotion out on paper. The words tumbled out of me, spilling onto the page and freeing my brain from some unnecessary emotional clutter. I've been making time to write a little each day (yes, even on the night of the 9 kid sleepover...more on that tomorrow) and I find myself in a much better headspace. Suddenly I'm free from the weight of the world. When you're a caretaker, as all wives and mamas are, it's easy to become the one people turn to. You're a natural, you soothe and nurture people all day long, it's your job. It's easy to let the burdens of friends (in addition to the burdens of your family) pile up on top of you until you're feeling over-extended, over-wrought and overwhelmed. I don't think there's any harm in being totally focused on your roles as a wife and mother. You should put as much energy into it that you possibly can. But if you don't have some kind of release valve, you're going to blow and that's no good for anybody. Unlike the occasional girl's night out (which, fyi, is very good for stress relief) writing is something I can devote a little time to every day and it doesn't have to take very long. If I can spend 15-20 minutes kinda breathing and just being me and not "Babe" or "Mama", I have a lot more energy to devote to the other tasks at hand.

So make some time for yourself today, wouldja?

2 comments:

  1. Totally agree with this. Writing for me is better than yoga, cooking, and crafting put together. Not that I do yoga, cook or craft....

    ReplyDelete
  2. I do some of that other crap too but nothing works quite like writing!

    ReplyDelete

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