Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Time Distortion

How the heck is it already Wednesday?

No seriously.

Thanks to publishing, my concept of time has completely gone out the window. This is both a good and bad thing. On the one hand, I have trouble gauging when I need to get up and how much time it'll take to get my kids ready for school. It's usually a hectic whirlwind in the morning. And then there's the fact that I promised to beta a book in a week, and it's Wednesday and I have read all of two pages. I generally forget events that aren't immediately important, like church activities or book signings or really anything that requires me getting dressed. Then people are like, "Where were you?" And I stare at them blankly, desperately trying to remember where I was supposed to be.

Things just come up too fast! They're over before I can remember to make a big deal out of them.

Maybe it's the sleeping. I swear I sleep like 16 hours a day. I'm like a cat. Sleep, eat, whine. Sleep, eat, whine.

But there are good things, too. Like the fact that the six months until my due date sounds SUPER short now. I remember when six months sounded like an eternity. When I first started writing, heck, I thought you could get published in that amount of time! Now I'm like, "Six months? Oh, that's right around the corner. A year? That's SOON."

I used to wonder if that restlessness would ever go away, if I'd ever find a measure of patience. I wouldn't say I'm totally zen, but I have come to accept publishing time. That's a miracle, considering I spent many years determined to hurry the process along—essentially trying to rush a glacier down the mountain. Or something. That's a horrible comparison.

I'm such a good writer.

Anyway, I don't know what I'm trying to say here. Maybe that for the first time in...okay for the first time EVER, I'm not in any rush. And it's nice. And I'm wondering why I spent so much time running around frantically and trying to force things to go faster. And why did I sink all that time into querying instead of honing my craft? And why did it take me so long to realize making my writing better was the only way?

Oh, so much hindsight up in here lately. Funny how that works.

9 comments:

  1. I didn't get out of bed until after noon today, so I feel ya on the time distortion, and my only excuse is having a wonky work schedule. It's good you aren't in a rush anymore, but I'll be extra spastic and hurried for you...just in case. :P

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  2. I check my calendar every 2 hours or NOTHING gets done :) I am losing my mind. I blame the 5 kids :)

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  3. I have the "How is it already WEDNESDAY?" thoughts, too, except lately, it's more like, "How is it already NOVEMBER?" Time froze for me on September first, when James was born, and everything after that has been one long blur. A fun blur, but a blur nonetheless. Yay for six months to go until your new baaaaaby! <3

    —Kayla

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  4. In six months it will be the end (or darn near) of the school year. Thanks for helping me to see how close that is!

    Enjoy your sixteen hours of sleep. I know how that goes!

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  5. Someone needs to tell my cat to spend more time sleeping. There seems to be a lot more time spent on whining than this allows for!

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  6. Haha, I hope I get to where you are soon. Objectively I know I need to "hurry up and wait" but it's just so, SO hard to be patient. Sigh. Sometimes it feels like I was set on this career path precisely BECAUSE it is so difficult for me.

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  7. I find myself wondering how to get hold of more time. It seems there's never enough of it.

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  8. The glacier down a mountain illustration is perfect. Totally perfect.

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