This morning was devoted to writing.  It went pretty well, even though it got off to a rocky start.  I am quickly learning that serious writing involves a whole lot more than skill with words.  There are these things called emotions.  Sometimes they are all on the same page at the same time.  These are the moments when a shaft of sunlight breaks through the clouds and the angels sing.  Magical.  Other times most of them are on the same page and the rest have gone off shopping for the day and can’t be found, no matter how many times you try the cell phone.  Other times there are so many emotions on so many different pages, you have no idea if you are even in the same library any more.  And then, of course, there are the times when some emotion somewhere has gotten miffed at another and a good old-fashioned brawl breaks out and you are watching from the sidelines, wondering if you should just get a bowl of popcorn and call it a day.  It’s like herding cats.  I was on the phone with my brother the other day and told him that my muse was like a spoiled child.  The key was to find as many ways as possible to bribe it into behaving.

So, I have an increasing level of respect for the challenge of being right-brained.  I enjoy it, I crave the beauty and the exhilaration, I was made to function there.  But goodness me, is it finicky.  And as with any craft, there are the countless times when you do because you have to, and that little spoiled brat is going to perform whether it wants to or not.  Sometimes a little left brained discipline is needed.

Well, anyway, I ended on a good note with the writing.  I had closure on a particular piece.  So, I headed out to run some errands, planning to do more writing into the afternoon.  One of the things I have discovered is that incorporating some physical work or movement into a writing day helps keep things flowing.  As I was driving in the car, I suddenly realized what I had really done that morning.

I had completed the first draft of the first chapter of the very first book I will ever write.

WHOA.

I started getting a little emotional.  The emotions were ready at my beck and call for this one.  In fact, a little more ready than I was planning.  It started to slowly sink in.  I ran my errands in a bit of a daze and started my project.  I decided that I wasn’t going to write any more today.  I needed to savor and celebrate this milestone.

This chapter isn’t much to brag about (yet).  You’ll never see it in its current condition!  But it IS.  It exists.  It’s a start.  Writing a book has been a dream since junior high and probably before that.  I have fought hard to be where I am.  The enemy tried desperately to kill the love and replace it with fear, and it has taken me years to offload the toxicity and repair the damage.  God is amazing and He has overseen this whole thing, that even now, I know I don’t fully comprehend.

It’s a milestone day.