Inspiration in Odd Places

Mz. Mommy

This past weekend, I got the odd urge to dust. It's an odd urge, because I don't get it very often, and I indulge in it even less often. Which is probably why dusting is a swear-worthy chore in my home (of both the I'm-going-to-do-this-more-often-I-SWEAR and HOLY-GUACAMOLE-look-at-the-size-of-that-dust-bunny varieties).

This time was no different.

What was different was the AH-HA! moment I had while dusting my baseboards (closely followed by an EW moment, but that's a whole other story).

I'm going to thank a relatively new habit for my ah-ha moment: I've been making it a point to write every day. Becoming a mom, going back to work full time, becoming a single mom ... all those things made a myth of spare time, when I would previously have been writing or doodling or reading or dreaming.

Spare time isn't like spare change anymore: I don't find it lying around between moments of busy the way you might find quarters between your couch cushions. I make spare time at the expense of other things that should get done. I have more flexible priorities than spare time, I suppose.

So this year, I rearranged my priorities and wrote down the ones I want to happen daily: praying, writing, time for me ... those kinds of things. I'm not saying that these things actually happen every day, but they happen a lot more often than they did before.

And I think dedicating more time to writing has helped me notice and imagine more things worth writing about.

Which brings me back to my dust-bunny ah-ha moment: I know the next story I want to write. Mz. Mommy vs. The Dust Bunny From Hell: A Grown-Up Picture Book (which is NOT the same as an adult picture book ... 'cause that would just be weird). Or some variation of that. But it will definitely feature the Dust Bunny From Hell.

And in a teaser: there's wine. Wine for the win!