In front of the John Lennon Wall in Prague.




Wednesday, March 2, 2016

SOL 2016 Day 2: Daily Writing Practice


Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life March Challenge 2016


The alarm rings at 5:40 a.m. dragging me from deep sleep. It is always a shock, an unwelcome call to get up. I hate it and yet every morning I make myself leap out of bed into the dark of predawn. 

I have my rituals: light a candle, wrap myself into a blanket before sitting in my chair, drink from the thermos of tea I made the night before. Even the brand of tea is ritual, the same kind every day. Its name is Ready, Set, Go, symbolic of what I need each morning.

Today I can hear a train roll by sending people who are also early risers off to work. A bird trills somewhere in my backyard. I have not heard many birds all winter, so this is one is welcome. Perhaps it means the spring migration is beginning.  With the blinds closed, I rely on sound to tell
my how the morning is progressing outside my window. It helps keep me centered on the task at hand: writing.

I began this writing practice on August 19, 2013. 926 days ago, 926 days of rising to meet my notebook, putting pen to paper. It is the only way I know to do this, the only way I know to keep going. For years I wrote sporadically, trying to harness writer-energy after hard days of working the teacher life. Sometimes I could make myself write, but mostly I couldn't refocus inward after a day of giving to my students. I felt so drained I had no words to give myself.

The teacher-writer tug of war. What I hear from so many teacher-writers. How do we keep the writer alive when we give so much for our teaching? Of course, there are always weekends and vacations when there is ample time to write. But I always found it difficult to get going again after times of not-writing, my mind refusing to cooperate. Always feeling like I was starting over again. 

So in August of 2013, in the airport on my way back from a summer writing retreat where I had regenerated my writer self, I resolved to make this change.  I had thought about it for years but fought the idea. I am not naturally a morning person. I hate going to bed early. But I want to write. And I want to teach. How to reconcile those conflicting desires? Something had to give.  

I made this promise to myself, fearing I wouldn't be able to go through with it. I've tried so many other regimens before but always stopped. Somehow this time I was ready. And so each morning I write.

My alarm has sounded once again, telling me I must put down my pen and get in the shower. It's time to put on my teacher self and go out into the world.  My writer self has been fed for the day. I can let her rest until tomorrow.





15 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing...Such discipline, you have to wake up early to write...I truly understand what you mean when you remark, "Sometimes I could make myself write, but mostly I couldn't refocus inward after a day of giving to my students. I felt so drained I had no words to give myself.'

    ReplyDelete
  2. You are welcome! It's an honor to have this forum to reach people.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love this! Finding time - or maybe more accurately, energy - to write has been a struggle for me since I traded in my part-time position for full-time. I especially relate to the line "I felt so drained I had no words to give myself." That's it exactly!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think all of us struggle with this. We all have to find a way to deal with it. Good luck in finding your own way.

      Delete
  4. 926 days and counting... What commitment! I'm doing this challenge in part to learn how to set time aside on a daily basis to write. Thanks for inspiring me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're welcome. We have to inspire each other! This challenge is a good way to do it.

      Delete
  5. I love this glimpse into your life - even the name of your tea and the fact that you make it in a thermos the night before (I actually may steal this idea!). Way to go for sticking with this regimen for so long. It sounds like you've found a great balance to keeping your "writer self fed" and so you can "put on [your] teacher self and go out into the world."

    Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Amanda! I can't take credit for the thermos. One of my writer friends gave me the idea.

      Delete
  6. This is powerful - like you are giving away important secrets. My energy in the evening is so much less - this makes such good sense. Love these lines: "It is the only way I know to do this, the only way I know to keep going."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Carrie, you should try a morning routine. I thought I would hate it, but it's been the best thing I've ever done for myself.

      Delete
  7. 926 days?!?! I have a new challenge to meet! I start and stop morning pages all the time. I always feel better when I write. I'm starting again. THANK YOU!!!! You've inspired me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Michelle, I hope you do start up. Try the morning challenge. I made a pact with a friend. Just like with making any big change, telling someone makes you think you have to keep going. That's what happened with me. Go for it!

      Delete
  8. Rituals are good and so we rouse ourselves from sleep to begin the day anew with writing. Great meeting you. Here I am in the morning again listening to the birds and being involved in the morning ritual of writing like you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unless you're in a different time zone (CA for me), you are much braver than I am -- I don't get up until 5:40. But yes, listening to birds in the morning helps ease me into the day.

      Delete
  9. Morning is the quiet time that I hear many writers use to compose. Congratulations on continuing your writing practice from pen to paper.

    ReplyDelete