There’s a dangerous creativity trap that nobody told me about and I fell into it. For years. And it goes like this: You do not have time to write, so you’ll never be a real writer.
So, naturally, I began seeking innovative ways to carve out time for creativity because how the hell would I ever find time amidst the beautiful mess that is raising children.
I spent months writing and applying for a writer-in-residence program and found blissful writing retreats located in a log cabin on the side of a mountain that you must hike barefoot and blindfolded to in order to prove you really want it. Now, on the surface, these ideas are wonderful, but have one thing in common: they are far-fetched, one-off avenues to creativity. Even if I had landed the writer-in-residence program (which, I clearly did not, and have the rejection letter to prove it), there would have been a finite start and ending date.
What I’m just now beginning to tell myself, and believe, is that a real writer is a person who writes. Every day. And, it can be different every single day. Some days I’ll barely find the will to scribble a few sentences down on a sticky note in between removing candy cane sludge from my toddler’s hair and remembering to respond to that text from ten days ago. Yet, there will be other days where I’ll add a few paragraphs to my book or write a little poem that’s been swirling around in my brain. But most importantly, my writing doesn’t even have to be GOOD or GREAT. I can and will become a better writer by the simple act of writing regularly and reminding myself to not fall back into the creativity trap.