I can’t believe February is almost over, and I’m still struggling to find writing time.
Well, I can, and I can’t. January was obviously six years long, and my February was drowned in a flurry of family and real world obligations. Given the current state of the world and the rapidly shifting political climate, I’ve been laser-focused on insulating my family from the fallout. I’ve shifted priorities and done a lot of planning. My kids have gotten all of their medical, dental, vision appointments done. I’ve shifted from a meal-delivery system that allowed me a lot more mental space, and I’ve been meal-planning, making food at home, and finding local and sustainable producers and farmers.
That’s taken up a lot of mental space, and has certainly taken away from my creative output.
Still, I’ve managed to pass 30k words on my Southern gothic ghost story, 20k on my cozy contemporary fantasy, and outlined book three in the Iron and Earth series. Book two, Winter’s Sting has been delayed, but the publication is tentatively scheduled for September of this year, just in time for me to travel to Atlanta for Multiverse Con in October. So I’m not completely abandoning my artistic obligations. My muse would flay me alive if I gave up on writing altogether.
I’m also making a point to spend more quality time with the people in my life. As I mentioned in my New Year goals post, I’m taking more dates with my partner, spending more quality time with my kids, and focusing on my community. My husband and I have not managed a date a week, but we have had more dates in the past eight weeks than we did in all of 2024. We’ve gone to a comedy show, done curling and cocktails on a rooftop bar, and attended the opening game of the Seattle Sounders with friends.
With the kids, we’ve gone to the arcade in the middle of the afternoon and spent tickets on ridiculous toys like whoopee cushions and even more squishmallow stuffed toys. We’ve had boardgame nights and discovered Ticket to Ride. We’ve also started watching the Harry Potter movies (which I had on DVD from years ago, so we don’t send any more money to the-author-who-shall-not-be-named). That’s also lead to some very helpful conversations about gender identity, personality, and how we treat people who are different than us.
And for my community, the PTA continues to drain so much of my energy, but I’m learning to balance contributing my energy and care without burning out because there aren’t enough people to shoulder the load. I’ll have more to share about my developing views on mutual aid and the obligations we have to our community and ourselves in a coming post, but it is an evolving situation. While I struggle to find people to share the load of labor required to sustain an organization like this, I continue to believe building and cultivating connections in our community are among the most important things we can do.
I know people want to help, they want to do more for their neighbors and show up, but they don’t know how. I want to use my knowledge and skills to help make the opportunity costs a little less. Whether that’s by doing the organizing, providing resources, or just connecting people with others who have more knowledge, I can take on a bit of the major labor in building networks. Currently, I’m skeptical that my current role in the PTA is the best use of my energy in that respect, but I’m evaluating, and doing my best. As I will continue to do. Stay tuned, as I may be sharing more of those efforts here (and how that work informs my writing).
In the meantime, stay strong, consume art, celebrate your joys, and resist despair. We’re stronger together.
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