This past April, I spoke briefly about Camp NaNoWriMo, which stands for National Novel Writing Month. In this virtual community, writers come together to cheer each other on as they write a daily quota. The original goal is to write 50,000 words, and this month I’m very proud to announce I clocked in 65,479 words, my lifetime record of fastest words written. My average novel is 83,000 words, and typically I write a story in ten weeks. Sitting here right now I don’t believe it myself, but when I look at my computer, there is a new book that wasn’t there a month ago. 🤯

But Camp NaNoWriMo was not the only thing going on this past month.

I hope this message finds you and your family well. I know this writing win is a small thing in comparison with what is happening and most likely is a product of circumstances and a solid outline. I do not expect to have a similar situation in the future, and will not hold myself to this standard.

Whatever it is that you’re able to be doing, know that just being you is enough. If you need to use this period as a time for rest and healing, by watching TV or cleaning out your closets, that’s perfectly fine. There’s no one right way to live our lives. We all are going through different things.

I’m writing this post at 11 pm because we had a toilet overflow on the second floor. We cleaned It up fast, thank goodness, but I came downstairs and for three ignorant, blissful seconds tried to figure out why my countertop was wet. I’ll save you the details, but after drilling seven holes in the ceiling to let the water out and a visit from an emergency plumber, we spent most of the morning hacking soaking drywall out of the ceiling, sopping up water from everywhere, and watching my toddler do everything but sleep. I finally went to sit down when the dust settled only to realize that I failed to cover everything in my house before we busted down the tattered remains of our kitchen ceiling, which meant I spent most of the afternoon cleaning.

Needless to say, I did not write today. It’s all about balance, and that’s okay.

Kathryn

PS-if you don’t already follow Sweatpants and Coffee on Facebook, I recommend looking them up! Here’s a quote from their Facebook page below that resonated with me tonight. If you would like the direct link to this graphic, just click through the image.