We are often conflicted this time of year and this causes us to become stressed. We want to write or continue along on our book promotion path. Maybe a deadline is looming. But we also feel a tug toward our holiday traditions and a responsibility toward the tasks involved in keeping them alive.
What to do? How do we fit it all in?
Everyone has a different way of handling their lives this time of year. Some schedule days off to pursue their favorite holiday activities. Others break tradition and scratch a few activities off of their lists. So why do we still stress over the holidays? It’s mainly because of the way we approach them.
The key is to give whatever task you’ve chosen to tackle your total attention. If you are Christmas shopping, for example, or baking cut-out cookies for the neighbors, but you wish you were (or believe you “should” be) writing, you will not enjoy the task at hand. You will become stressed and conflicted. If you are working on an article or a chapter in your book, but you think you should be out buying a tree or putting lights on your house, you are doing your writing work a disservice. Your attention is divided. There is a battle going on inside you and your stress level is rising.
So how do you achieve a sense of peace with whatever you are doing? I suggest giving yourself permission. Give yourself permission to spend the morning writing, with the promise that you will string the lights this afternoon. Give yourself permission to leave your writing desk and enjoy an evening of shopping.
Allow yourself to be in whatever moment you have chosen without guilt or yearning to be someplace else.
This is not a writer’s creed. It is a universal truth. Try it and let me know how it works for you.
Visit my websites to learn more about me, my work and my services:
http://www.patriciafry.com
http://www.matilijapress.com