Day FortyOne: And In The End

Daily Word Count: 469
Cumulative Words Written: 65,812
Total Words Discarded: 14,500
Total Chapters Drafted: 26
Time Spent Writing Today: .5 hours

In the end. It’s hard to believe I’m typing those words.

In the end, six residency weeks flew. Here’s what I learned.

Daily journaling is a good exercise.

I’ve never been much on journaling. But on this residency, I followed Julia Cameron’s advice in The Artists’ Way. She recommends that all creatives free-form journal every morning on waking. Three pages of whatever comes out. In my case, I released a ton of brain cement. I highly recommend it for any creative.

I need to keep up the practice of writing every day.

Stateside, my life is very scattered. I travel two weeks per month minimum. Sleep in strange beds. Navigate unknown places. I always said I couldn’t write every day because too much of my brain was taken up with the other parts of my work life. I need to put this excuse aside and commit to a daily writing practice. Much like my daily yoga practice keeps my body limber and my spirit whole, a daily writing practice helps my brain fire. I still don’t know how I’ll manage, but I’m determined to do it.

I compartmentalize much better than I thought.

While I didn’t get much writing done the week Lillian died, I was able to function while crying. I still wrote in my journal, made the necessary phone calls, submitted required forms. Maybe her obituary is more lyric because I poured what she meant to me into the words. To make this point less about me, we all need to take time to process life’s challenges. A quiet space. A door to close. Empathetic souls physically close. They’re essential to a grieving human.

So get used to me being here again, people. In the end, I learned I still have lots more to say.

To follow my residency at Buinho Creative Hub from the beginning, CLICK HERE and read forward.