The Return to Creativity

Between my day job and some additional editing jobs I’ve taken on over the past few months, I’ve noticed my personal writing has been increasingly pushed into the background. Especially where my book is concerned. At first it didn’t seem like that big a deal, but as the weeks passed I started to feel more and more disconnected. Even my daytime daydreams seemed to be fading into the deep recesses of my mind. There has been more than one occasion when I’ve worried I lost the key to my imagination and wondered if I’d be able to find it again.

Yesterday, however, I found myself inexplicably caught up for a few moments and couldn’t wait to get home, slip into a tank top and yoga pants, strip off my makeup, and jump onto my bed with my laptop. When it comes to writing, I’ve found the most effective spot is in my room. I’m comfortable, I’m less apt to be distracted by any clutter in the kitchen or videos and books in the living room, and the face I present to the world — the editor — has been completely banned from this place.

Here I am free to be creative, to express my most heartfelt thoughts. This is my sanctuary.

At first I was a bit concerned I’d have trouble getting started because it had been so long since I’d last opened one of my chapters, but it turns out I needn’t have worried. Everything else in my life was forgotten: bills, upcoming tasks, a close friend’s imminent move across country…they all faded into the distance as I slipped easily from this world into the realm of Fancy. And in that moment I felt more content than I have in a while.

I didn’t realize how much I missed my characters or how big a part of my life they have become. It was as if no time had elapsed at all as we moved together from one page to the next...and the next. Before I knew it, my Lego Darth Vader alarm clock (go ahead and laugh) was telling me two hours had passed. After expressing my surprise, Bobblehead Han Solo (a gift my aforementioned friend gave me earlier this year) seemed to give me that cocky grin he’s so famous for and ask, “What kept you so long?”

Needless to say, I was quick to promise him and the others I wouldn’t let it happen again anytime soon.