How do you make all of the parts of your life even out, keep everyone happy, including yourself? You have children, a husband, another career, and family obligations, what do you do when your muse starts to talk to you and all you want to do is slip into your cave and write for days at a time?
I find keeping everyone happy, including myself to be a delicate balancing art and there a days that I don't always do an effective job. Although I don't have any children, I have a husband that expects time with me. I also have elderly family members that need me to do a million things for them in order to keep them as healthy as possible. Along with those obligations, I have a career that can be demanding at times, plus four nieces and one nephew that believe I belong to them.
As writers, what tricks do you use to make it all fit together? How do you keep everyone happy, including yourself?
I'd love to hear from you.
Sometimes it just seems impossible. I try to keep in mind that many days I can only do a paragraph or two on my WIP. But at least I try to keep progress going. I talked some about this issue in Write With Fire, particularly in a piece "The Working Man's Curse."
ReplyDeleteThe first lesson I learned when I decided to develop my art (writing) is that you can't make everybody happy. I have a fulltime demanding job with irregular hours, a husband and three very young kids. Sometimes my job takes up all the time and writing suffers. Sometimes my family takes up all the time and my writing suffers. Sometimes I devote blocks of time to writing and other things suffers.
ReplyDeleteSome people say you can have it all. I say you can only have it all if one or more things suffer. It's still hard for me to balance but I prioritize. My family comes first, then my career, then my writing.
Once I realized that I couldn't do it all as good as I would like, I learned to accept my limitations.
I believe you both are right. Sometimes I don't think I can get anything done and other days my name is SuperKaren. We do what we can, but I believe the most important part of the dual career process is making progress with all aspects of our lives.
ReplyDeleteSingel Twinmom here...writer at heart...
ReplyDeleteI take time,i just do it,not all can accept it,but i have to have time...
unhappy mom,unhappy kids,so i take my time,and skip a shower sometimes jus so my mind can wonder :)
I struggle with this constantly, and I don't even have kids. I wish someone would invent a daystretcher.
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