A Writer's Life

This week my problem is this: I simply have TOO MUCH to write about.

Sigh.

I woke up this morning (it just happens to be President's Day so we are off of school) with my head brimming with ideas and words and things to say.  Maybe it's the sunshine.  Maybe it's the coffee.  Maybe it's just crazy old me. :)  Anyway, I've been sitting here trying to calm my mind down a bit and decide what exactly I am going to end up writing about on this fine, sunny afternoon.  

So I decided to break it down.  Break down everything I've learned and written about so far on this blog.  When I set out on this blogging adventure, unsure whether it would end up being a success or a debacle, I had some goals in mind.

WRITE more - I have to tell you I haven't written so much in my life until this year.  I've always loved to write.  There's never been a time in my life that I remember when I didn't write.  It's just what I do.  It seems so funny when someone asks me "So, Anna, are you still writing?".  I don't want to sound rude, but sometimes it makes me laugh.  When someone asks me that question, it sounds to me as if they asked, "So, Anna, are you still breathing?".  It's not a logical question to me.  If I'm still alive, I'm still writing.  It's just what it is.  But I'm getting horribly off topic, aren't I?  This blog has really helped me grow as a writer thus far and my goal to "WRITE more" is being fulfilled every week!

READ more - I'd like to think I'm reading more.  In fact, yes I am.  But I have this weird habit with books.  If I really love a book, I actually start to read it more slowly.  This is because I don't want it to be over.  I become unhealthily attached to the characters in the book and I just can't bear to finish it because if I do I'll have to move on to new books and that would mean letting go of those characters and that would also meaning coping with reality.

PRAY more - A touchy subject for a lot of people.  This is because prayer is so personal, so intimate.  This is also because people don't want to be honest about their prayer life.  We all know we all should be praying - praying a lot.  Jesus prayed ALL THE TIME.  None of us want to admit it when we aren't praying as we should - or even at all.  But another goal of mine in this blog was to be honest - to be completely, painfully REAL.  I do feel that I have grown stronger in my prayers, that I've gotten better at praying for people.  But the one thing about my prayer life that has been nagging at me is my inconsistency.  I love to pray and I pray a lot, but it's only ever on my time.  When I FEEL like praying.  God didn't tell us to only pray when we are happy, or when we're sad, or when we're at church.  He wants us near to Him at all times - calling on His precious name - in times of joy, in times of trial, in times of silence.  

THINK more - Oh, goodness, Anna.  Why did I even put this as "a goal".  Dear me.  I do not need to think any more than I do nor do I want to.  I think my brain and my heart bear enough for more than one person.  But, I will say this.  Maybe it wasn't my exact intention at first, but now I think it could be.  Maybe we should be thinking and setting our minds on things more like this:

LIVE more - My intentions for this are also rather unclear to me.  HOWEVER, my One Word 2013 does entail some living, doesn't it?  What it means to truly be a "living sacrifice".  It must include living more.  Living more for Him, and less for me.  

What have I learned from this 5-month-and-counting journey so far? 

~I do, in fact, have a lot to say.

~There is, in fact, a lot of inspiration around us everyday if we just take the time to look.

~I don't, in fact, write to get any praise.  I write to write because I love to write. (Right?)

~God is, in fact, working through this blog in my life and in others'.

~I have discovered, in fact, I am more hopelessly in love with words than ever before.

What a grand old time I've had on this blog - and hope to have in future months (years??!!) and I hope that y'all readers out there (identified and unknown) have, too!  I can't wait to see what comes of these future weeks and posts and I can't wait to write goodness knows what comes out of this mind of mine!

...Love, Anna...

My inspiration: