Motivation - 3

We haven’t really been talking about writing for the last couple of weeks—we’ve been talking about what it takes to GET writing. Last week I noted that the great James Taylor had a bit of an answer for us in his song The Secret of Life, when he talked about how life was all about using time.

When you think about it, time is all we really have in life. We aren’t promised a loving family or a great job or a place to live or even a decent source of food… or anything else, for that matter. The only guarantee in this life is that we’ll have time. Sure, a limited about of time because we could get hit by a bus or get a disease… but however long or short our time on the planet, time is all we’re guaranteed.

It’s funny, though - given how precious time is [when you really let it hit you] - that we waste so much of it. I know I do. Mindless television, iPhone games, trashy novels… take your choice of guilty pleasures.

But for a lot of people, the everyday living of life is enough. Family, kids, a steady income, decent house… the dream, right? And if you have that—or anything close to that—you just enjoy your life. You go to the kids’ little league games, you have barbecues in the back yard, you go to Disneyland each year—maybe take the odd romantic weekend or two—you enjoy your life and the everyday living of it. A contented life.

So why isn’t that enough for some of us? Why the need to create?

Sometimes that need to create can take the form of knitting or painting or any number of pursuits. And most of them end up with something tangible that you can hold in your hands or show to friends… unless you want to write.

Sure, you could show your finished writing to friends, but then they’d have to read it… which takes time. I mean, if you did a painting they could look at it, say “Cool” and be done with it. But few friends really want to spend hours reading your scribbling, but they can’t tell you that because they don’t want to hurt your feelings.

So you need to make peace with the idea that you’re not writing to show your work to friends.

So why are you writing?

Of all the things you could do with your time, why sit in front of a computer and tap, tap, tap?

Well, if you’re a writer, I don’t think you’re like everyone else. You see the world as a series of stories that need telling. They can be fun stories, meaningful stories, scary stories, or any of a wide variety of stories—but they’re stories that you feel the need to tell.

So why don’t you? Why is it so hard to spend your time doing anything except telling those stories?

Oy. And we’re back to motivation and how to lasso it… think about it and we’ll continue our explorations next week.

Copyright © Diane Lake

24Apr22

Email Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com