There's a stereotype or myth about writers sneaking off to a cabin in the woods to write. This summer, I literally did that. I kissed my husband and son goodbye and flew off to a cabin on a lake in New Hampshire. I thought for sure I would have plenty of time and solitude to work on my writing and business projects.
There was just one problem. The cabin I rented was, as I mentioned, on a lake, and it was in the town where my sister and many dear friends live. And it was summer. So it quickly became apparent that no work would be happening while I was there -- I was too busy swimming, kayaking, and socializing!
Oh sure, I did some journaling and Creative Foreplay (a Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching term for those lovely reveries where you eagerly think about what you'll do in your creative work, but without actually doing much). But I realized that the other things on my agenda that month were more urgent. I can write anywhere and anytime, but I can't live the summer lake life with my loved ones anywhere else or at any other time.
As the Bible says and the Byrds sang, to everything there is a season. If you're feeling stuck on your memoir project, ask yourself: Is this the right season for me to work on this?
I don't necessarily mean the season of the year, but just the particular time in your life. Do you have a lot of other high-priority things on your plate right now? Would there be a better time to work on it?
The Danger of Not Following Through
It's important to recognize when it's not the right season for our creative work. If we try to show up to write during the wrong season and then don't manage to do it, it's easy to lose faith in ourselves. We can start to think of ourselves as procrastinators or lazy when really we're behaving in a way that makes perfect sense for our circumstances.
Every time we plan to write and then don't, it reinforces the unhealthy identity of being lazy or a procrastinator.
Why does this matter? Because our actions reflect the way we view ourselves and the habits we've given ourselves permission to maintain.
It's important not to sabotage your self-image by setting goals you're unlikely to meet. We tend to live up to our unconscious view of who we are.
Making Memoir Manageable
There's a reason why the tagline for An Untold Story is "making memoir manageable." There are myriad challenges involved in sharing life stories. We can either increase or minimize those challenges through our beliefs and actions.
Let's manage the challenges by setting realistic expectations about what we can accomplish during the season we're in right now.
As you can see, my summer fun season is over, and I'm getting to my writing and business projects now. Is it possible you also need permission to postpone your memoir project for another time? And if you do, when would that better time be?
Choose a future time that will make more sense for this work and consider putting it in your calendar so time doesn't slip away needlessly. And check in with yourself if it feels like it is never the right time.
It's also possible this could be the right season for you to dig into your memoir project with just a few tweaks to the goings-on in your life.
What would have to be true in order for NOW to be a good time for you to make some good progress?
Just some food for thought!
As always, I’d love to hear from you about my musings.