Eighteen Minutes

I have 18 minutes before I have to leave to pick up the boy from daycare...oops, now 17. And instead of reading other people's blogs, or wasting time, or wasting ANYthing more, I am challenging myself to use this time. Use it, thank you, Jack London.

Blogging is difficult for me. I fear I want all my posts to have soooo much meaning. To be masterpieces. To carry a message. To affect another soul, move someone, make a difference. I start getting ideas about things I should blog about -- the woman I saw today with a young girl (Does she have a chance? Mom was on the phone, smoking a cigarette, wee girl was flitting around her like a lost satellite -- too scared to take that final step away, too young to do it alone, too fragile to be ignored. Hmmm...perhaps that's a post for another day.) -- the talks I had with two of my friends today, encouraging them separately to breathe, follow their dreams and do something daring, scary and different -- the delight of fall and the possibility of change and hope for what the future brings -- the fabulous ice cream that I had to celebrate the afternoon -- the Elizabeth Gilbert talk I listened to on the Painted Path....

It's crazy all the "blog" thoughts I've had since I officially began my life as (not just another) blogger. Down to 11 minutes now....as a writer, I've always felt the pressure of "a writer writes every day." I want to be a better writer. I am a writer. A published writer (ah the days of book reviews!). An accomplished and not quite prolific writer (but I'm working on that). Writing for my job is very different than this creative, organic work that I'm putting down here in print. And one that I think I've let narrow my creative thinking as opposed to expand it...writing copy for a client or his or her website or ad...well, let's just say it's not what I want to do forever. Writing like that (copywriting, that is) demands that you write with your head first, and just like in the movie Finding Forrester, I believe more in writing "your first draft with your heart..the first key to writing is... to write, not to think!" And I think that's the problem -- too much thinking, not enough real writing.

And so with one minute left, I won't reread, I won't re-edit, I won't rethink. I'll just write. And be proud that I did.