One of Those Days
Yesterday was truly one of those days. You know, the ones where life sucker punches you right in the gut and leaves you bawling in your office, mopping up tears with tissues that are much too thin. On top of it, I've been fighting a cold/sinus infection/sore throat for a week, my dishwasher has not been working for most of the last six weeks, and this week has once again been so busy that I've not gotten back to CLOUD 9 for two days.
But there's always something to pull me back, to snap me out of it. Sometimes you hear a song on the radio and the timing couldn't be more perfect. Yesterday on my drive home I heard two songs, back-to-back (although on different stations) that helped move me out of the funk. The first was the Avett Brothers' Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise. It's a great song, a fantastic video, with a line that gets to me every single time I hear it: "Decide what to be -- and go be it."
I decided a long time ago to be a writer. I am a writer. I believe in myself, I believe that one day My Real Job will be writing. I believe it, I say it, I am doing all the hard work to get there. Yes, I'm doing all that hard work after my children go to bed and during those precious hours my husbands tells me to go work at the coffee shop on the weekends, and I'm tired and sometimes I'm discouraged, but I believe more than anything. Decide what to be -- and go be it.
The second song, while much less inspirational, set me down in the text of CLOUD 9. Supertramp's "Take the Long Way Home." While I'm not a huge Supertramp fan (although "The Logical Song" is a childhood favorite), one of my characters quotes this song in CLOUD 9. And so I started thinking about CLOUD 9, and how close I am to being done with revisions, and, while all was not well, it was getting closer.
I also mixed up two giant pitchers of beergaritas to share with my neighbors last night, and that also helped.
Today my outlook was more positive. I don't have all the answers, and at some point I will have to address yesterday's issues, but I have much for which to be thankful and I will focus on that:
But there's always something to pull me back, to snap me out of it. Sometimes you hear a song on the radio and the timing couldn't be more perfect. Yesterday on my drive home I heard two songs, back-to-back (although on different stations) that helped move me out of the funk. The first was the Avett Brothers' Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise. It's a great song, a fantastic video, with a line that gets to me every single time I hear it: "Decide what to be -- and go be it."
I decided a long time ago to be a writer. I am a writer. I believe in myself, I believe that one day My Real Job will be writing. I believe it, I say it, I am doing all the hard work to get there. Yes, I'm doing all that hard work after my children go to bed and during those precious hours my husbands tells me to go work at the coffee shop on the weekends, and I'm tired and sometimes I'm discouraged, but I believe more than anything. Decide what to be -- and go be it.
The second song, while much less inspirational, set me down in the text of CLOUD 9. Supertramp's "Take the Long Way Home." While I'm not a huge Supertramp fan (although "The Logical Song" is a childhood favorite), one of my characters quotes this song in CLOUD 9. And so I started thinking about CLOUD 9, and how close I am to being done with revisions, and, while all was not well, it was getting closer.
I also mixed up two giant pitchers of beergaritas to share with my neighbors last night, and that also helped.
Today my outlook was more positive. I don't have all the answers, and at some point I will have to address yesterday's issues, but I have much for which to be thankful and I will focus on that:
- My old pal Phil from Best Buy was here (again) today to fix the dishwasher (again). I've seen him five times in the last month. I can't wait to run that thing tonight!
- My children are happy and healthy.
- We have a frog who comes to the front window every night to eat bugs. Birdy calls him Fernando -- or Hector, depending on her mood.
- Tonight my husband and I are both home, which hasn't happened on a weeknight in a long time. Granted, we've both been working, but still.
- Coffee. I'm always thankful for coffee.
- Next Monday, my sister is coming to stay with the kids and Hammer Guy and I are going up north for three days. CLOUD 9 country. A working vacation. And even though I won't be able to step away completely from My Real Job, I'm going to use most of my time to write and read and query and market.
Good. You have a good attitude. And, you have a long list of things of which you are thankful for. The rest of the stuff is just details. Don't sweat those.
ReplyDeleteThe song that shifted me came yesterday at 5:18 in the AM in the far left lane on I94 at the County Road 81 underpass in Dayton. "Midnight Blue".
Enjoy your weekend with HG up in beautiful country.