The Value of Taking a Break by Susan Barclay

At times it’s been a hot summer, but when you have air conditioning, you can never really use the excuse that it’s “too hot to write.” Still, as MarniePohlmann expressed a few days ago, there’s a season for everything, and sometimes it’s appropriate to take a break – even from something as important as writing. 

In fact, this has been a somewhat challenging year for me. As I contemplate the prospect of writing the annual Christmas letter, I toy with the terms ‘annus horribilis” and “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” I won’t get into the details, but apart from a few personal experience pieces and their submission, I have not succeeded in accomplishing the writing projects I had in mind. In the eyes of someone like Stephen King, who believes in writing every day regardless, perhaps I’m a bad writer or no kind of writer at all. I choose to believe something different, though: I am a writer taking a break from writing to live a very real life, one that gets a little messy, one that requires my attention.

I’m reminded of a quote from Tom Hodgkinson that says, “Being lazy does not mean that you do not create. In fact, lying around doing nothing is an important, nay crucial, part of the creative process. It is meaningless bustle that actually gets in the way of productivity.” While I wouldn’t say I’m “being lazy” or “lying around doing nothing,” I do believe that what I am going through is, or will be, part of my creative process and future literary fertility. But if I were relaxing or otherwise unoccupied, I would remember that there is value in being “bored.” Recent studies show that boredom leads to more creativity and encourages the pursuit of new goals. Hurray for science, right?

And like Gretchen Rubin, who “always had the uncomfortable feeling that if [she] wasn't sitting in front of a computer typing, [she] was wasting [her] time,” take “a wider view of what [is]"productive." Time spent with … family and friends [is] never wasted.” At the end of the day, we’re not going to wish we’d spent more of our time working; investing in people is what lasts and has eternal value. So, go ahead, take that break. I’ll know I’m in good company with you.

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For more of my writing, please visit www.susan-barclay.ca or www.susanbarclay.wordpress.com

Going Green--Bamboo Green by Connie Inglis

I do enjoy seeing the new growth, the new green, of spring. I realize for some of you, spring has been green for a few months. For those of us on the Canadian prairies, the new green growth of spring is just beginning. And it is truly invigorating after months of white, months of no growth but only cold harshness.

My writing went through a long, long winter like that--something I shared about in last month's blog. But then shoots of growth started sprouting--Holy Spirit-driven sprouts of greenness and new life. It was unexpected but oh so welcoming to my frozen heart and soul.

I cannot explain how my life has changed since those green sprouts returned. I just know I never want to go back to the tundra. Which presents a challenge: How do I keep my writing green?

First and foremost, I need to invite the Spirit into everything that pertains to writing... that includes any reading I do, any listening to sermons or podcasts I do, any music listening I do, even any tv watching I do. I am still learning this one. It takes practice but if I keep it up, it will become a habit. I have discovered that you just never know when an idea will jump out at you if you are in the "write" frame of mind. That's one of the things I LOVE about the Holy Spirit--He is anything but predictable. That's what makes His inspiration so fresh and green.

In his book, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Stephen King states, "If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot." I've always been a reader. However, I have recently been choosing books that help me with my writing--books like, Ordinary Genius by Kim Addonizio, Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury and, You are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One) by Jeff Goins. Each author has a unique perspective on their craft and as I read I feel like a young "Grasshopper" sitting at their feet with so much to learn.

I am also learning to read proactively--to read seeking something fresh, green, inspirational. You might think that ruins the enjoyment of reading but it actually has made the reading more enjoyable. Sounds strange I know. Again, I believe that's the working of the Spirit.

It's the writing that I had stopped long ago that has returned and I'm learning that it requires work. I always thought that for famous authors writing came easy, with little work. I am learning that this is a false assumption.  In the book mentioned above, Jeff Goins says, “Everything is practice. Every word you write and action you take is a chance to get better.” Believe it or not, this encourages me. I'm not afraid of work. I have learned throughout my life that perseverance pays off--that the Spirit is present in the perseverance. That doesn't mean there won't be slow days or "writer's block" days. But I believe it does mean there will no longer be years of winter. For that I am thankful.

I am still a novice--my toes are just beginning to sink into the pristine sands of an undiscovered tropical island, one that is lush and green. Funny, when I think of green growth, my years of living in Southeast Asia take my imagination to a picture of bamboo forests. I love bamboo for many reasons. In how it relates to writing, I love its green growth--without hibernation, without winter. Bamboo is strong yet pliable. It will bend but not break. It is also persevering. Cut it down and the growth will return. In fact, some species of bamboo can grow three feet in 24 hours. What?!! Now that's prolific. It's sort of scary to say this (because of the prolific part) but I feel like my writing is a bamboo forest right now--a forest where God's Spirit is alive, weaving in and out of the graceful jointed stems, catching the Light on the slender leaves. I feel alive--hardly able to breathe sometimes--and it is beautiful. God is oh so good.