tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797742184466184860.post5198667083908843667..comments2023-10-16T04:45:51.436-05:00Comments on This writer's life: Finding BalanceNancy J. Parrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10107417252662717576noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797742184466184860.post-48089934083793630692009-10-07T09:13:11.527-05:002009-10-07T09:13:11.527-05:00Hi Ashley, thanks for stopping by. I understand. I...Hi Ashley, thanks for stopping by. I understand. I find balance by breaking things down into small easy bits- example on Mondays I vacuum, on Tuesdays I dust...etc. A page a day- A ten minute walk with time left to chat. Still there are times when everything gets away from me. :) Good luck with your balance!<br /><br />Hi Jen, thanks! I do yoga stretches every day for a bad back. You are right about a car with four wheels on one side. :) For me, it's a wip. Cheers!Nancy J. Parrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10107417252662717576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797742184466184860.post-7386882694476552232009-10-06T21:47:52.087-05:002009-10-06T21:47:52.087-05:00Wonderful post (wonderful blog, too!). I love tha...Wonderful post (wonderful blog, too!). I love that you give yourself permission to stop and look back and analyze mid-project. So many writers emphasize the write-through-it philosophy.<br /><br />And as for life, balance is invaluable. That's one thing I stress in the yoga classes I teach. Balance. You can't drive a car with four wheels on one side, don't put your eggs in one basket, and so on. Life happens in small moments and those are the ones that are easiest to miss.jennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05355168637629625444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797742184466184860.post-19276393673295639952009-10-06T21:40:59.424-05:002009-10-06T21:40:59.424-05:00You sound so much like me.
I'm always worried...You sound so much like me.<br /><br />I'm always worried I don't write enough, that I'm not producing enough. When I'm writing, then I worry that I'm not spending enough time with my kids and my friends or being sociable enough with the other softball moms. When I'm promoting I worry I'm not doing the other two.<br /><br />Please don't check out my house. Or my lack of exercise. They're currently disasters.<br /><br />I have to get better balance.<br /><br />I stayed at the day job till 7 pm tonight. I do that a lot since I've been manager. Maybe not 2 hours late but always a half hour or hour after 5. <br /><br />A few years ago I decided to work on my health and lose weight. I lost 95 pounds in about a year and a half. That was great. But I hardly wrote. I was always walking and exercising and then too tired to do anything else like writing or promoting. Now that I'm writing and promoting a lot, I've regained a lot of what I lost. :(<br /><br />I have to figure out all this. I don't write on my lunch hours as I once did as that's my main friend time. I spend my lunch hours with my friends at work.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03534849962517743534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797742184466184860.post-40509129681170863492009-10-06T09:45:34.063-05:002009-10-06T09:45:34.063-05:00wow- thanks Linda, Sia, Jane and Anita.
Linda, I ...wow- thanks Linda, Sia, Jane and Anita.<br /><br />Linda, I love the binge and purge metaphor. I'm a big advocate of a page a day- or Mon-Friday. Otherwise you're yo-yo dieting... lol.<br /><br />Sia- your family sounds wonderful! Thanks for sharing them with us.<br /><br />Jane-I agree you do come back more productive after spending time in the real world.<br /><br />Anita- age does make you better at it, I think. ;)Nancy J. Parrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10107417252662717576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797742184466184860.post-14058400304529465412009-10-05T22:55:06.077-05:002009-10-05T22:55:06.077-05:00Very nice, balance. Am constantly striving for it....Very nice, balance. Am constantly striving for it...age is making me better at it, I think.Anitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06333494452915600562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797742184466184860.post-33868016885145128572009-10-05T13:51:54.551-05:002009-10-05T13:51:54.551-05:00Once again you hit the nail on the head - balance ...Once again you hit the nail on the head - balance is important. There are times I think I shouldn't be 'playing hooky' from writing. But after spending the time with family or friends, I am usually more inspired and productive.Jane Kennedy Suttonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12519340747761460017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797742184466184860.post-73743675159941170202009-10-05T09:54:20.847-05:002009-10-05T09:54:20.847-05:00If I don't have balance, I'm not a happy c...If I don't have balance, I'm not a happy camper. My family won't allow me to lock myself into my office. I have to admit it is sometimes easier to retreat to my office when things are tough. But my son comes in and we chat or go for a ride in my new car--of course he wants to drive, lol! I have my niece and her family stopping by regularly. I can never ignore the little grandniece with her Pebbles Flintstone hairdo, saying c'mere Sia and hauling me off to see this or that. Most of my weekend was a family fest. I hardly went near the computer except last night to put up my blog.<br /><br />You're right. We have to live life to write life realistically.<br /><br />Good Article Nancy.~Sia McKye~https://www.blogger.com/profile/08470562659597351033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797742184466184860.post-76545953434685427222009-10-05T09:09:41.763-05:002009-10-05T09:09:41.763-05:00I think that's one of my big problems in writi...I think that's one of my big problems in writing. I binge and purge. Write too much until the hubby complains. Then get burnt out and just don't feel like it for a while. Then get sucked into the creativity, leaving the house in shambles, laundry to do, dishes to wash... and the pattern starts all over. I just need to find a nice, happy balance. <br /><br />Great blog. Thank you for understanding.Linda Kagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00259042112816376940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797742184466184860.post-36215624649835806322009-10-05T08:21:18.185-05:002009-10-05T08:21:18.185-05:00Hi Marilyn, with your book just released, I can im...Hi Marilyn, with your book just released, I can imagine how busy you are. I hope you do take some time to go outside and breathe. It will all go by so fast! :)<br /><br />Hi Christy, thanks for stopping by and commenting. You are so right, a day or two off really does help the work.<br /><br />Cheers!Nancy J. Parrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10107417252662717576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797742184466184860.post-26674802500873645152009-10-05T06:53:50.812-05:002009-10-05T06:53:50.812-05:00So true-often we go about trying to record life th...So true-often we go about trying to record life through writing or journaling or photographing the milestones. Sometimes we need to stop recording life and truly live it. A great reminder to all of us writers who strap ourselves to our stories. Thanks!<br /><br />www.gonefeising.comChristyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16922871961153388205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797742184466184860.post-35208031774724846832009-10-05T00:06:00.384-05:002009-10-05T00:06:00.384-05:00Nancy, this is such a huge challenge for me right ...Nancy, this is such a huge challenge for me right now... Thanks for your post and helping to remind me to step away from the computer for awhile. Or, as my mom always used to tell me when I was little, "You need to go outside and get some fresh air. Now." :)Marilyn Branthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05303846770348840645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797742184466184860.post-16551401840828751762009-10-04T19:12:08.100-05:002009-10-04T19:12:08.100-05:00L. Diane, chaos becomes the balance- yes, I can se...L. Diane, chaos becomes the balance- yes, I can see that. So managing the chaos becomes like herding ducks. :)<br /><br />Ann, I hate when I have typos in comments, too. But you know, I didn't see the typos because I was agreeing with your point.<br /><br />Jessica, hi, thanks- to me life is writing. lol- so everything I do relates back to story in so many different ways.<br /><br />Thanks for the great comments, everyone!Nancy J. Parrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10107417252662717576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797742184466184860.post-22988694575769065012009-10-04T14:02:11.356-05:002009-10-04T14:02:11.356-05:00Sorry - typos galore today! Grrr.
That last line ...Sorry - typos galore today! Grrr.<br /><br />That last line should read:<br /><br />"...So I agree with you that balance and participation in life may momentarily take us away from WRITING, but ultimately it enriches our writing."Judy Croome | @judy_croomehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17455755011354905278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797742184466184860.post-55917659956496561272009-10-04T11:34:50.217-05:002009-10-04T11:34:50.217-05:00Great post Nancy. Balance and priorities are thing...Great post Nancy. Balance and priorities are things I try to keep at the forefront. I liked how you tied balance into the setup of a novel too.Jessica Nelsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12365768876905444157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797742184466184860.post-32485360081811647412009-10-04T10:25:06.548-05:002009-10-04T10:25:06.548-05:00Nancy, this is so true on many counts! Firstly tha...Nancy, this is so true on many counts! Firstly that all important balance; finding it is all areas of life is never easy. But you've made an even more important point: participation. How can our writing be rich and full if we're so focused on sitting at the computer writing stories (living in our imagination) that we actually forget to participate in life itself? So I agree with you that balance and participation in life may momentarily take us away from life, but ultimately it enriches our writing.Judy Croome | @judy_croomehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17455755011354905278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797742184466184860.post-75285571428386617502009-10-04T09:34:00.046-05:002009-10-04T09:34:00.046-05:00In my life the chaos becomes the balance, as the b...In my life the chaos becomes the balance, as the balance conintually shifts.<br /><br />But you hit it - that balance is so hard to maintain. And the promotion steals primarily from the writing, at least in my world.L. Diane Wolfehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06425864276166334896noreply@blogger.com