Being a writer and working full time at it is a luxury for me. Many writers have to fulfill a daytime job and steal the hours in between for their writing. I have spent the better part of this year committed to my writing and learning about the self publishing industry, marketing and promoting with still, a long way to go. There is always something more to learn, so staying on top of the curve is crucial.
Before I seriously began writing my book, I was a social butterfly; always doing something and out almost everyday, dressed up in my many outfits from my many purchases, from my many shopping excursions. As I look back on the calendar, I gasp about how it was only February when I began working ‘gungho’ on my book and when summer approached I asked, “Where did the spring go?” The other day I said to my husband, “Holy crap, it’s October next week, what happened to July?” When I looked back through the months, I was proud of my accomplishments and the way I had made my writing a priority in life. Gone were the days of social lunches, and shopping for “just because” and all the other frivolity. I’d often go visit my closet with all my clothes and treasures and look forward to where I would wear what and to where next. I realized that I had spent much of the year in my over-sized sleepshirts and sweatpants; no make-up required. My husband would come home from work and always compliment the way I looked in the past and now he comes home to the same few writing attired looks of me and yet will still find a way to compliment me. Some days, I am home for days on end, some days it becomes a major inconvenience to stop what I am doing just to make him dinner, yet he never complains.
I have found a way to orchestrate my weeks so that I work four weekdays and make one day for all appointments and errands and groceries. Many Saturdays I also work when there are no social obligations. I have given up Sundays long ago because when my husband is home, he seems to always need my assistance for something or other or just wanting a slice of my time. My social life has been drastically downgraded and for those who are close to me, they understand. We also find out who really cares in these stages; who is interested in what we do and who disappears when they aren’t getting your full attention. I have no children of my own, so I get to be selfish about my time.
The other day I had my one day out. It was a beautiful sunny autumn day, still a bit unseasonably warm, although you could feel the hint of crispness in the air. As I opened the garage to go into my car, the brightness of the sun hit me like a bolt. I stood out in the fresh air for a few minutes and grabbed my sunglasses, laughing to myself as the sun hurt my eyes. I wondered how long it had been since I felt the sun on me. I felt like a darn vampire as I counted back the days since I was last outside; five to be exact. Wearing civilian clothes with my hair and make-up done, it felt good.
DGKaye©2013
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