The Importance of Persistence

When my kids were young chasing chickens and playing ball in the field, expressing myself creatively was a thin thread that I was able to grasp only now and again.  Journals holding vignettes and conversations I was sure that I would never forget, journals venting the ups and downs of building a marriage, a family and a home are in drawers, on shelves and in closets, seldom were completed.  Those years were both rewarding and trying.  I think that in the attempt to balance everyone's needs including my own  took the most energy.  Some days  I felt incomplete, yearning to create and express myself.  I would read about mothers/writers who rose at three or four in the morning to write high up in attics or at the kitchen table.  But, that is not me.  It is a bit too extreme for someone who is sleep sensitive to try. (Just ask my husband, I require 7-8 hours of sleep or I am beyond grouchy.) Recently I have committed to rise a bit early (maybe I will need to set an alarm) each morning and write.  It has been three mornings so far and the pesky itchiness to create has been relieved.   My blog is ever so grateful, I just know it.  The trick is to sustain. Persist. It's funny, I talk grit and and the importance of persistence with my students all the time.  These are key elements to success as a writer. Inner wisdom; sometimes I just don't listen, but I'm learning.