In the bustle and hubbub of life, I feel it is important to find moments and places to step back. To just let my mind rest. There is usually one spot in the city that is still, the park. A refuge of the natural world surrounded by towering monuments of human progress. Here in these bite-sized pieces of nature, one can get away from the noise and activity and find a bit of reflection, a moment of peace. It is a moment I relish. Each time I ask myself, “Why don’t I come here more often?”
Dreamers tend to be self-driven and motivated people. We have to be. When we are alone, when no one else believes in our dream, it is up to the dreamer to make a way forward. We have to be motivated or our dreams will stumble and falter along with us. This allows us to be strong in our weakest times but it can also create in us an insatiable appetite for progress. A relentless drive to always move forward, even when our efforts are subpar, or even blatantly wrong. This month I would like to focus on something I don’t talk about much here on the site. What happens next? Once all the activity and fervor die down, what do we do?
As a writer, I have faced this with the completion of each book (btw, my newest project, Facet is well underway! More info is coming in 2021!!). I pour so much passion and energy into my work that I literally cry after it is complete. Yet I am soon looking out the horizon again, wondering what I will write next. If I will be able to write another story again. It can be disquieting, having a goal you work so hard to complete come to fruition. Suddenly you feel listless like you should be doing something. I feel like this is a mistake I have made many times.
We live in a goal-oriented culture. We are always asking what someone is up to, what their plans are, where they are going in life. This can force us to feel like we need to immediately jump right back in a write up another story or another book. This might be fine if it is your job, but I have to work. I have to maintain a social life. I have to carve out time to write and it’s hard. I cannot jump right into another book after I complete one. I hardly have the energy to write a short story! But like I said, we live in a goal-oriented society, so I try anyway and you know what? I fail. Then I begin to doubt myself. Doubt my skills. Doubt my vision for a book. Doubt that I am capable of creating anything of worth. I hear this from almost all of my friends in similar fields. Creativity is not something that can be forced. We have to “let the well fill up,” as my friend likes to tell me. And you know what? He’s been right every time! I have written six book-length stories and I still need to remind myself that it is ok to pause. It is ok to take a break. We don’t have to rush right back to work.
Dreamers cannot dream if they do not rest. We spend so much time trying to push our dreams forward, that we often forget to take the time to care for ourselves. In the midst of the hubbub and grind, we need to find time to catch our breath, find a bit of peace, or a moment of reflection. Take the time to take care of yourself, or your dreams may never be complete.
Well said. Self-care is hard to do but essential. Love to you.