When you’re a writer the first thing you do in the morning is write even if it’s just one sentence or one word. You write. That is the discipline that I learned from participating in the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I have wanted to be a writer as long as I can remember but I had put if off in order to be a mother and build a career. I always meant to do it but life kept getting in the way. Then I heard about NaNoWriMo in November 2014 and I said why the hell not.
I decided to put me first for once and see if I could actually write 50,000 words in a month. It was really hard and there were days that life really tried to get in the way but I didn’t let it. I made my writing my first priority and everyday no matter what happened I wrote. I went into my room locked the door turned on the air conditioner to drown out the noise and wrote.
I didn’t write the great American novel or even the complete first draft of one but I did write over 52,000 words in less than 30 days. I felt very proud to be a winner of NaNoWriMo and I didn’t stop there. I started a blog and have continued writing every day. I found the discipline that I needed. Through writing I am rediscovering who I was before everyone told me who I was supposed to be. Who I, Evelyn, is not who I am as a mother, a community organizer, a friend, a neighbor, or a social worker but me as a woman, as myself, as a soul traveling on this journey of life. My journal has once again become my best friend and it is helping me become friends with myself.
I continue to write every day and if I don’t write I feel like I have let myself down in some way. Writing has become my salvation as I wind my way along this crazy twisted path of midlife and try to find out exactly what it all means. Writing is my way of creating order, of expressing my inner most feelings, of reviewing what has come before and of creating what will come next.
[bctt tweet=” Through writing I am rediscovering who I was before everyone told me who I was supposed to be. ” username=”EclecticEvelyn”]
Discipline is needed in so many areas of our lives. I am so happy you got to complete your goal in writing these words. Keep up the good work. Thank you for sharing