I really appreciate how you have known you’re a writer and your cultivation of it! It took me some time to even conceive that God might have gifted me with that skill and that it was worth cultivating at all! So now I’m in my first steps of learning how to use my mom time to build a discipline and how I best think and organize my thoughts.
When I found out I was having twin girls I thought it would be impossible but God continues to reveal where I think it’s not possible, that’s where He is!
So right now I resonate with a long time thinking and praying through ideas. Walks are the best place to really get inspired and little by little I’m learning how to set up rhythms of writing. Still hard but like you said, it’s like giving up breathing! I have to write!
I often wonder how little writing content I would have if I wasn’t out there doing the nitty gritty work. How does someone think of something to write about if they’re not scrubbing poop off walls, ya know? Those mundanities get the mind whirling.
Such helpful insight and advice! I also do a lot of stuff around the house, but my job is closer to my passion, which is editing and providing critique to writers. But when I don't have much time to write at a certain time, I do write in my head.
Trying to accommodate the muse inbetwixt 50-60 hour weeks and two kids is very difficult, especially if your gig is physically taxing and you are drained at the end of the day.
I mentally compile stuff and pray to God to get a break once in awhile such that I can jot things down. That’s it.
You’re quite prolific on here considering your life circumstances. When I see people like you writing after hours, I always want to know about what drives them. For me, writing in general—just processing basically anything in written form—wakes up my brain and makes me feel fully alive like I’m being the creature God made me to be. Is it like that for you? Or is your writing fueled more by more of a sense of duty/mission?
Ooh I did not realise you could dictate to text with Google docs! I’ve been making voice notes on my phone but then forgetting to type them up so it’s not been that helpful. Loved this piece, I feel the same about the demands of motherhood actually being conducive to my creativity. It came as a surprise to me but seems to be a common experience!
One of my favorite examples of this is hop artist Lauryn Hill. She created her most famous album in her early 20s while she was pregnant. She attributed her creativity to the pregnancy! In her song “Zion,” she sings about how everyone in the industry was telling her to abort and her choice to keep her son: "Look at your career, " they said
Me, growing up ten minutes outside of Perryville, Kentucky, seeing it mentioned on Substack 👀
Hahahaha! Literally just chose it for the consonance with Paris. I’ve never been there. But I think Kentucky is one of the most underrated states.
You’re not missing much. I left KY for NY back in 2018 and didn’t look back. 🤣
I really appreciate how you have known you’re a writer and your cultivation of it! It took me some time to even conceive that God might have gifted me with that skill and that it was worth cultivating at all! So now I’m in my first steps of learning how to use my mom time to build a discipline and how I best think and organize my thoughts.
When I found out I was having twin girls I thought it would be impossible but God continues to reveal where I think it’s not possible, that’s where He is!
So right now I resonate with a long time thinking and praying through ideas. Walks are the best place to really get inspired and little by little I’m learning how to set up rhythms of writing. Still hard but like you said, it’s like giving up breathing! I have to write!
My blue-collar working heart is so grateful.
I often wonder how little writing content I would have if I wasn’t out there doing the nitty gritty work. How does someone think of something to write about if they’re not scrubbing poop off walls, ya know? Those mundanities get the mind whirling.
Also!! Love love LOVE your ideas for writing/generating when you’re otherwise occupied
“Somehow, once I had a baby, ego and fears of failure didn’t matter any more. It just mattered that I did what I was made to do.” 🥹
Such helpful insight and advice! I also do a lot of stuff around the house, but my job is closer to my passion, which is editing and providing critique to writers. But when I don't have much time to write at a certain time, I do write in my head.
Trying to accommodate the muse inbetwixt 50-60 hour weeks and two kids is very difficult, especially if your gig is physically taxing and you are drained at the end of the day.
I mentally compile stuff and pray to God to get a break once in awhile such that I can jot things down. That’s it.
You’re quite prolific on here considering your life circumstances. When I see people like you writing after hours, I always want to know about what drives them. For me, writing in general—just processing basically anything in written form—wakes up my brain and makes me feel fully alive like I’m being the creature God made me to be. Is it like that for you? Or is your writing fueled more by more of a sense of duty/mission?
Ooh I did not realise you could dictate to text with Google docs! I’ve been making voice notes on my phone but then forgetting to type them up so it’s not been that helpful. Loved this piece, I feel the same about the demands of motherhood actually being conducive to my creativity. It came as a surprise to me but seems to be a common experience!
One of my favorite examples of this is hop artist Lauryn Hill. She created her most famous album in her early 20s while she was pregnant. She attributed her creativity to the pregnancy! In her song “Zion,” she sings about how everyone in the industry was telling her to abort and her choice to keep her son: "Look at your career, " they said
"Lauryn, baby, use your head"
But instead I chose to use my heart
Now the joy of my world is in Zion.
I love that! I didn’t know that about Lauryn Hill.