Feeling Like Myself

I wrote something today!

It's probably the first thing I've sat down and written in over a month (blogs, unfortunately, do not count). I didn't mean to take another writing break, but with all the Christmas stuff going on, I just haven't really had a good amount of time for it. And when I do have time, I haven't had the energy. What with the Christmas musicals to attend (and perform in) and the Christmas cookies to bake (and burn, forcing me to rebake), and the Christmas parties and the Christmas shopping, and the Christmas cards, and the Christmas present wrapping, and getting a little sick and sleeping extra so I won't get sicker, my creativity has been stifled.

Don't get me wrong, Christmas is my favorite time of the year. I LOVE the Christmas chaos. It's just that the other day I was sitting and thinking about how I just haven't been writing lately. It made me sad.

It snowed here yesterday. It was only a few inches, but the roads were a little icy. It's North Carolina, so they cancelled school, and consequently I wasn't needed at any of my jobs. So I stayed inside and read a book--something I don't get to do as often as I'd like. Usually, if I'm not working (or participating in Christmas chaos), I'm writing my fingers off. Getting to actually read a book was a rare treat.

The book itself was all right. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't something I'd consider truly remarkable. However, as I am fond of saying, creativity breeds creativity. The book wasn't incredible, but it still managed to spark my imagination. It sparked my desire to create something.

And I was able to sit down and write an original fairy tale today. I didn't even really know what it was about or how it would end. I just started out with a couple of characters and just wrote. In the span of less than an hour, I was able to craft what I consider to be a rough draft of an enjoyable 5 page (handwritten) fairy tale.

I can't adequately describe the feeling. It was like something inside me woke up. As I wrote the last few words of that story, I felt like me again. I haven't been too out of sorts lately, but suddenly I just felt more like myself than I had in weeks. I don't think I knew how unlike myself I was until I suddenly felt like myself again. Does that make sense? Oh well...

The fairy tale was an answer to a prayer. I am hoping to compile a collection of fairy tales to be published sooner than later (untraditionally), and I need a few more. I hope to do some pretty cool stuff with this collection, but more on that is to come...I still have plenty of writing/editing to do before it's ready. My latest story, however, I think is pretty good.

...when I read over it again, it might stink, but for now, I am feeling like a writer again. I'm feeling like myself.