book writing

Passion and dedication

I’ve been thinking about passion and dedication lately. Since starting to write a book, I have learned a lot about myself.

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When I first began drafting the plot, creating characters, and outlining the book, I was very passionate about what I was doing. I thought about my book all. the. time. I was diligent about writing every day and downright giddy about the storyline.

Feeling so passionate about something was beautiful. I’m passionate about my faith, my relationship with my husband, animals, and coffee. Passion makes me feel purposeful.

I have been working on my book for six months now. I’ll be honest and say that some days, the passion to write just isn’t there. I can find a million other things to do besides make up a story that no one is reading besides me. It’s easy to doubt myself, and feel like what I write isn’t good enough.

Sometimes I avoid writing because I don’t think I can write the story that’s in my head in the way I want it to be written. Basically, I want what I write to be perfect because I’m so passionate about the story.

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That’s where dedication comes in. I’m dedicated to writing this book. I may not feel passionate about writing all the time, but I am absolutely dedicated.

When I feel uncertain about my abilities, I remember why I started. When I’m tired and don’t feel like writing, I choose not to give up. I consciously decide to stay dedicated in spite of my feelings. Our feelings are constantly changing. I may hate what I write one day, and then love it the next. The passion may be there today, but not tomorrow. Whatever the case, I am dedicated.

Sometimes I am passionate, but I am always dedicated.

What are your thoughts on passion and dedication?

What are you passionate about?

Life Lately

Hi! So, life lately. It has included joy, sadness, fun, excitement, and lots of animals.

Unfortunately, the sadness comes from my uncle passing away from cancer last week. I miss him, and my heart absolutely aches for my aunt and cousins. It has been an incredibly rough couple of weeks. We are all just bummed. It’s a hard situation, as my cousins are around the same ages as my siblings and I, and one is pregnant with a baby due next month. Needless to say, lots of tears and prayers have been occurring lately.

Jimmy and I headed to New York for the memorial on Tuesday morning, and drove home on Wednesday.

Road Trip

Lots of coffee and energy drinks were consumed along the way.

It was nice to be able to be with my family, even though the circumstances were saddening.

Since Jimmy and I spent 16 hours in the car over the course of two days, I brought along our laptop and worked on my book while he drove.

Driving

I managed to get in a few thousand words, which was great!

I’ve been spending lots of time with some cute cats and dogs lately, which makes me one happy gal. I was thinking the other day about pet sitting, and I realized that I literally spend more time with animals than people, haha.

Pet sitting

Jimmy and I hosted a picnic for the moms in our life for Mother’s Day. We scrambled around like crazy that morning to get our house in order, clean up the yard, and make food.

We always joke that we like having people over because it forces us to finish little projects and get our house clean–all in record time. There are always little things like trimming bushes, weed wacking, and random cleaning tasks that are usually ignored until we host parties. Is this true for anyone else?!

Billy and RacquelHanging basketMay

Hannah and I tried acro yoga when I visited my family recently, which was quite fun. It’s definitely a lot harder than it looks. Hannah’s boyfriend was with us when we were trying to get into different poses, and we were like “Josh! Lift my feet! Now Hannah’s legs!” haha. Poor guy 😉

Acro yoga

Lastly, I’ll leave you with this snapshot I took from the police log of our local paper. I thought it was worth sharing 😉

Police Log

What has been going on in your life lately?