Retreat

I'm finishing up my first draft of Sweet Spot Style (the book) and I needed a little quiet space to collect my thoughts, so last weekend I had the pure luxury of staying at The Sanctuary in Westminster West, Vermont. Homeowners Caitlin and Peter where out of town and I was in charge of making sure Sasha and Maya (the kitties) didn't get eaten by wild coyotes after sunset. I am good at that kind of job :)

It's funny, I was dreaming of being all alone, getting uninhibited free time to write and focus, but oddly enough I found myself creating my own distractions. Maybe it is b/c I'm so used to being interrupted, with 50 things to do at all times, the phone ringing, dinner to make, or my child who wants to play Barbies.... and all of these things were gone. Yet, what did I do, but pick up the phone and ask my family if they would like to join me? How crazy is that??? I told hubby, "I think I kinda I miss you..." but actually I think it was that I'm not used to spending much time alone.  Luckily, hubby reminded me of my mission and told me to get back to work :)

And I'm proud to say I did. The writing itself, dare I say, is done with over 43K words and 125 pages, time for editing and picture placement. To celebrate, hubby and daughter joined me for lunch in the garden and a gorgeous hike on Sunday. What I learned this weekend is that I really do need to be careful about not creating distractions that pull me from my mission and that sharing the beauty of a magical place does give me joy, but there is something to be said for keeping a little of that magic all to myself.

It would be nice if...

I don't recommend remodeling your kitchen, writing your first book, building your business and your website, taking an online PR class, and some other stuff I've forgotten to mention like helping to organize a fundraiser, being a mom and working. It would be nice if I could just do one or two of these things at a time, but alas we create our own reality and this is the one I've patched together.

I guess it's just in my blood to multi-task. At the most I had seven part time jobs at one time. Even in high school I had three part time jobs. I'd leave school early to work the 3-6 shift at the church daycare,  and then dash out the door to take the 6-9 shift at  M.M. Cohn's, a Southern retail store akin to Dillard's or perhaps some lesser version of Macy's? Yes, this required an outfit change and I was usually speeding to get there on time. The third job was working weekends at a hippie store in the mall where I sold tie-dyed shirts, incense and beads while listening to the Grateful Dead.

I'm getting off subject here, as I was saying... I tend to thrive with threes. Three relatively big tasks is a good thing, keeps things spicy.  Three boyfriends always seemed to work well, too. If one made you mad, the other would cheer you up. As the saying goes, one man can't possibly make you happy- but, how about three? I say it's the magic number!

I'm getting off track AGAIN, see that's what happens when you multi-task. You get off track because instead of writing your book, you start looking at kitchens and when you are supposed to be looking at designing your kitchen you are playing dress up with your daughter walking around the house in your prom dress from about a million yrs ago (at least it still fits!) and trying not to fall down the stairs in high heels that you haven't worn since you moved to Vermont ten years ago.

It would be nice if I could just write my book.
And you know what?
I think I better go do that.
Xo Desha