Just Write: Tips for the Writer, Blogger or Emotionally Exhausted

Dear Readers,

Last night, despite the fact that it had been a physically and mentally, draining day, I felt really happy and relaxed.  For the first time in a long while, I could sit down with Countryboy to have dinner and a nice conversation about what we did that day.

It is one thing to be stressed out during the day, when you are cooking, cleaning and doing laundry, but when you are a homemaker, you shouldn’t be so stressed that you can’t enjoy the time you have with your family.  Nor should you be so exhausted, that you go to bed at 8:30 and wake up at 4:00 am.

So what was it? And when was the last time I had been this happy and relaxed?  A week ago? Or was it longer? How is that possible, when I’ve felt more organized and in control of my life, than I have ever been before.

It was when I was opening my WordPress account to upload yesterday’s photos and post, that I realized what the problem was. It had been a week since I had last blogged! And this wasn’t the first time.

“How could this be?!!!” I groaned, and looked back, to a week ago, at the moment when I was busy groaning the same words to Countryboy. Yes, another week had gone by in which I had only posted ONE blog post.

“How could this be?” I now thought to myself. “I did so much! I cooked all that food, from scratch! I took all those photos, for my BLOG! And I had so much fun doing so many things!”

Then I realized why, “Yeah, Jodie, you did everything besides do the thing you can’t live without. You didn’t write!!”

If I was a cartoonist, I would post a little sketch right here of myself; sitting at my desk last night with my alter ego standing over me, hands on hips, wagging that long index finger of hers. But I’m not.  So I write.

Writing is my ‘therapy’.

It is how I make sense of life; organize things in my head, and formulate how I want to communicate my feelings. It is how I let off steam.

Writing is how I record those moments of beauty, joy and peace; like snowshoeing with my husband and having a terrific time, despite the fact that we never reached our destination; or, spending time with two very special people in my life, by going on a road trip.

So how did I manage to miss this? How did I manage to forget to spend time at the page? How, did I not blog?

Why?  Because I don’t know when to say “Enough is Enough!” or just plain “No!”

Just because someone is a homemaker and does not have to ‘earn a living’, does not mean that they have a lot of time on their hands to ‘twiddle their thumbs’. And it, certainly, does not mean that they do not have work to do.

Countryboy’s reply to one of my rants on the topic, was, “Well, your blog shouldn’t stress you out.”

My blog doesn’t stress me out. Blogging allows me to do the things I love.

Whether it be: quilting, cooking, or decorating, or simply going on an Adventure; blogging allows me to do those things, while writing. The online or public factor, means that I can do it and validate the time I spend doing it. It is not just for me, it is to keep in contact with the people I love and to share my projects and adventures with other like-minded people, whether they be homemaker’s like myself, fellow bloggers or quilters or just someone who comes across a photo I took or post I wrote, through Pinterest, Google or some other social media.

Writing is important to me and it is important to my well being. Writing needs to be put first on my list of priorities, not last.

Writing needs to come first in my life, because I need to come first in my life.

That might sound very arrogant and selfish but it is true. If I don’t write, I don’t take time for myself;  and if I don’t take time for myself, I cannot be happy and if I cannot be happy then I cannot help other people.

So today, my dear readers, even if you are not a blogger or writer or maybe because you are: Pick up a pencil or pen, a sheet of paper or your journal, and just write.

  

I promise you, that you will feel better than you did before you started. If you don’t want to write just for you write for someone else.

Pick up a postcard or card you’ve been meaning to send to someone special, but never did.

It doesn’t have to be long. It could just be a quick message. A paragraph, a sentence, or even one word that conveys what you would like to communicate.

I can guarantee you, that an unexpected little envelope in a person’s non-virtual post box, will mean more to that person than a few words typed madly in an email, on facebook or What’s App.

What matters is that you do it. Just write.

And if you do, well then THANK YOU, it means a lot to me, that you took my advice.

If you do ‘embrace’ this little challenge of mine, please tell me about it. I would love to hear about your experience!

So readers, I will stop all this ‘rant’ writing. Thank you for allowing me to let off a little emotional steam.

Until next time, I hope!

Jodie

P.S. Here is a picture of the boxes in which I collect all the letters, cards and postcards that either myself or me and my Countryboy have been sent over the years. These do not include all the letters that we sent ourselves over the years. Those are in a safe place!