Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.
I
hope those words mean as much to you today as they do to me. When I feel like
quitting it’s often because I’m tired. Tired of looking at a blank screen. Tired
of writing. Tired of struggling to be creative. Tired of the incessant demand
of writing deadlines. Mentally tired. Just, plain tired.
Over the years I learned that it takes discipline and trust to rest. Trust that the writing groove will be found again. Discipline to force myself away from an unfinished project, close my laptop, or journal, and give myself permission to stop writing.
Resting is my solution to quitting.
Don't Quit
Poet Edgar A. Guest wrote the inspirational “Don’t Quit” one hundred years ago. In all, he published over 11,000 poems. Guest concludes his poem with the words,
You can never tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit –
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.
I wonder if he wrote “Don’t Quit:” out of his personal experience? The poem is a gentle reminder to us all that even the most trying of times will end, and there are sunnier skies ahead.
Inscribers have felt the urge to quit.
In November 2020, Lynn Dove wrote, “I have never felt more like quitting than today! I look at the blank screen on my computer and experience an overwhelming urge to… declare my writing career done.”
If it feels uncomfortable taking a rest its because there is so much around compelling us not to rest. Rest is a luxury; rest is a priority. How do you deal with this tension?
As Jesus followers we’re familiar with the “Sabbath rest.” Writer, Carol Tice, credits her creativity to the Sabbath rest. “What happens when you rest — truly rest — is nothing short of amazing and miraculous.
I know this because every week, I take a full day completely off of work.
I don't check email. I turn of all electronic devices. And I don't write a single thing.
It's wonderful.
I don't even think about working. (This part is important). Just total downtime.
And it's how I'm able to maintain a busy schedule of writing without losing my mind.”
Note to self: Try this at least once before you retire.
Routine Commandments
Author Henry Miller created a work schedule that listed “commandments” for him to follow as part of his daily routine. Miller doesn't use the word “rest” but the value is woven through his list.
1. Work on one thing at a time until finished.
2. Don’t be nervous. Work calmly, joyously, recklessly on whatever is in hand.
3. Work according to Program and not according to mood. Stop at the appointed time!
4. Keep human! See people, go places.
5. Don’t be a draught-horse! Work with pleasure only.
6. Discard the Program when you feel like it—but go back to it next day. Concentrate. Narrow down. Exclude.
7. Forget the books you want to write. Think only of the book you are writing.
8. Write first and always. Painting, music, friends, cinema, all these come afterwards.
Invest in rest. You won't regret it.
I write to grow hope, inspire people to be real, forge an authentic faith in Jesus, and discover their life purpose.
Please follow my writing at REVwords.com
I would love to hear from you.
