Temporary? Insanity

It seems like every time I log on to Facebook lately I’ve been met with fabulous news from a writer friend. Agents signed with, publication deals, completed books, manuscript requests . . . fabulousness abounds! Luckily, I’m not the envying type. I have a lot of character flaws (seriously, a LOT), but that truly isn’t one of them. I’ve been doing dorky little chair dances every time I read these bits of news, nearly sending the ole laptop skittering off my lap. I am so stoked for the amazing things happening for these friends of mine because 1) they’re my friends and I love ‘em! and 2) they worked so dang hard and they DESERVE good things happening.

My own level of deserving? Not QUITE so high.

Last year, I wrote a book. And I polished it and revised it and shared it and revised it and polished it more. I won a prize with the first chapter of it. And then I began querying literary agents. Over the course of several months I received twelve manuscript requests. TWELVE. And slowly the responses came back. Ultimately, the agents seemed to agree that the book had potential but it was, as yet, unrealized potential.

And I was okay with that. Surprisingly. I actually agreed with the points made, started planning how to address the issues that needed addressing and then . . .

. . . I never opened that file again. And I still haven’t. Because it’s going to be hard work when I do. That’s why I’m not the envious type, because laziness and envy are kind of mutually exclusive in my opinion, or they should be. I can’t look at those succeeding in the publishing world and call them “lucky”, because while luck can be a factor it is NOTHING without serious hard work.

And that’s one of the hard questions I need to start asking myself again. Kim, are you willing to work that hard? Humble yourself that low? Frustrate yourself to that degree? Are you willing to write every. single. day? Are you willing to ask for help? Are you willing to study and research and outline and plan? Are you willing to give up your more frivilous pursuits? Are you willing to WORK?

I have answers to those questions, and they’re the right answers, I’m just scared to give them. I’m scared to work, because while that level of hard work is necessary for success, it is not a guarantee of success. And that’s the question I haven’t answered yet. Kim, if you do everything it is within your power to do and still do not have “success”, will you be okay?

I think so. I think the journey is enough. I think the stories are enough. I think I am enough. I think.

Click here to read the first chapter of my new book. I’m writing again. And I think (and oh, I hope) I’m not going to stop this time. Of course, we may have to wait and see what Baby VanderHorst has to say about it all . . . (26 days and counting!)

Paper is my nemesis. Which is mildly ironic what with me being a writer and all. What used to be a neverending source of potential delight has now become the most excruciating form of torture. I hate paper and I stuff garbage and recycling bags with it as often as I possibly can.

Sometimes I have nightmares of being smothered by the stuff. Seriously. I’m not making that up.

So when I decided that ENOUGH WAS ENOUGH and I needed to get things organized around here, paper was the first thing that came to mind. Much as I’d like to, I can’t chuck it all in the bin, because most of it isn’t mine. There are Emma and Becca’s school papers, Neil’s clinic, church, and Lion’s Club papers, medical stuff, bills, magazines, flyers, bank statements . . . I used to “file” these papers in a box or rubbermaid tote that would eventually work its way upstairs to our little-used office to be “sorted through later.” Yeah. There are about a dozen such boxes kicking around up there now, and we have a tendency to lose things in the VanderHorst household.

But no more! The moment a piece of paper comes in the door now, it has a place to go:

Kim's Spiffy New Mail Sorting System

There’s a file for each member of the family, a “To File” file, a file for magazines and one for fliers, and a file for “Action Items” (translation: papers that need something done about them). If things are ticking along well, the “To File” file will be filling up, and the “Action Items” file will be emptying. Our mail sorter has been in place for nearly a week now and I’ve been able to find would-usually-be-hopelessly-lost paperwork several times already. Effort? Consider yourself rewarded.

I was on such an organizational high after creating my Mail Sorter, that I just kept going. I made a meal planning system wherein all our usual dinners are written on pieces of index card and kept here:

Meal Planning System - Index Cards are my New Best Friends

I sort through the cards when making my meal plan each week (I simply write my choices on the calendar). I then put the index cards up on my new “Chore Board”, two or three at a time, and when I remove them I put them at the back of my index card holder so that I don’t do the same meal too often (I have the tendency to make my personal favourites over and over again – we eat a LOT of lasagne around here).

Mommy's Chore Board

Also on my chore board (the kids get such a kick out of the fact that Mommy has a chore board too) are some magnets I made for myself out of index cards, a labeller, and magnet strips. These are to remind me of things I should do on a daily basis to help our home be 1) happy and 2) functional. I’ll likely add more magnets as more occur to me, but these will do for now.

My “Music Time” magnet reminded me to play the piano yesterday afternoon. My girls laughed and danced themselves silly while I played. I haven’t done that in MONTHS. It made me happy. It made my girls happy. And all because of a homemade magnet. I feel kind of silly that I struggle to remember to do what makes me happy and NEED reminding, but that’s the truth of it.

What simple things make you happy? Consider doing one of them today!