Friday, September 23, 2011

The Death of My Routine

The day starts as any other. Get the kids off to school and hubby off to work. Write out a lengthy to-do list while juggling football practice and homework, with the hopes of actually getting it all done. Eat dinner, then herd the kids to the bath. Don't forget to schedule doctor's appointments and oops...I'll get to the yard work tomorrow. It's a regular routine. One repeated every week day. On the weekends, subtract school and appointments, and add football games, more chores, and family events. It's only one variation of a day in the life of a busy adult. I'm sure many of you can relate. We all have our busy days, our seemingly never-ending activities.

They quickly become routines, and even typing that word makes me cringe. For me, it's not the busy days that are awful. It's not the day that ends when the kids are in bed, the cleaning is done, the animals are fed, and the house is quiet. Although I do collapse into bed, exhausted.

Even that's not too bad.

The worst day I can imagine is unspectacular because it's routine. It's the day my needs fall by the wayside. No, I don't mean my desire for a pedicure and a vacation. I'm talking about the day I don't follow my passion and feed my soul. It's the day I made excuses and complained about a lack of time because I had so many tasks to do. I didn't make time to challenge myself and acknowledge the extraordinary chaos in my head (otherwise known as my creativity and muse).

My regular routine makes it easy for that nightmare of a day to come to fruition--the day my pen stays on the desk, untouched. My characters are forced to the back of my mind while I cook dinner and play chauffeur. I'm so focused on the inconsequential every day tasks--yes, I group dishes, laundry and such in this category--I forget what I love. The words sit idle and my story remains untold because I'm operating on auto-pilot.

I know better. I occasionally coach people to do the exact opposite of what I'm guilty of. It's all too easy to become stuck in a rut. We simply exist, go through the motions. I'd rather reach too high, fall hard, pick myself up, then eventually achieve. I want to learn, explore, taste, dance and try every creative endeavor that interests me. Especially writing. Dishes and laundry? Not so much.

I've been working hard to create ample time to write and be creative. It's not easy. I'm a mom first. My family's well-being is important to me. Yet so is mine. It's a constant battle to balance it all. Thankfully, I love a good challenge. I'm happy to go to war with my routine. It's great practice for my world domination plans, which have also been sitting on the back burner for too long... *grins*

What do you to get out of a rut?

2 comments:

Christa Desir said...

You are lovely. Have I told you this today?

Jess said...

Why thank you. :)