Those words used to send my family scattering as I emerged from my home office after long day at the keyboard. Those days the writing, and often REwriting, leave me bleary eyed, cranky, sometimes hungry or dehydrated, and frustrated at my shortcomings.
Funny thing, I haven't felt that way for a while. Just as I hadn't been feeling the joy in writing for a time, which inspired me to blog about trying to get it back, keep it up.
Connection? I think so.
For me joy comes from feeling productive, from learning new things, from feeling that no matter what happens after that moment, I gave it my best. You can't do all that for long without meeting frustration and distraction and putting in a little hard work. I think of people who work at thankless jobs that make my world better. I think of teachers and nurses and stay at home moms and so many more. Their work is harder than mine, and their work headaches are often also work heartaches but oh when they have those moments of joy...
It all goes together. Hard work. Big joy.
I don't have a huge career but I have books I am proud of. In fact, there are passages in books I've written that make me happy just to remember them.
So, in the long run, I'd rather have these headaches and angst punctuated by moments of joy and a sense of accomplishment than to simply plod along settling for good enough.
So, without sounding preachy the lesson of the day is: Writing hard, Make head hurt. Totally worth it. (Even if it doesn't result in a big publishing deal, massive sales numbers, legions of fans). Totally.
