tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4188207040378049412.post716640869893238407..comments2017-02-15T09:54:28.875-05:00Comments on 4 Good Ideas: Art, Envy, and Focus (In the category of Mean What You Say.) #52WeeksKim H. Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04174625670955700530noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4188207040378049412.post-9430020973503257072013-10-03T12:07:57.041-04:002013-10-03T12:07:57.041-04:00Thank you, Kim, I am humbled by your generosity. ...Thank you, Kim, I am humbled by your generosity. I wish I could spend all day writing, but it is not so. I write my morning pages before the household wakes up. Is that something you could do? I ask because I'm concerned a bit by this: "If I am determined to allocate precious minutes to this supremely selfish act..." Why is it supremely selfish? How is it any different from anyone else's hobby, or art, or TV time, or exercise? If it helps your mental health, how can it be so bad? <br /><br />I ask all these questions because I know how you feel, and I've asked them of myself when I beat myself up. I have been there - feeling selfish for wanting to do this very isolated, in-my-head thing that shuts everyone out when I'm doing it. So I do it when nobody is awake, when nobody is affected by my mental focus on something besides them. I rarely spend much time writing during the day, so don't let time be an obstacle to you. I've got too many household duties to be able to focus, so I jot down a few ideas in the evenings, then write for an hour in the morning. Sometimes I get an hour at my daughter's swim practice, and I'll edit or doodle charts at lunchtime. You can do it. You *are* doing it. As my critique group said when I hung my head and said I don't really have a focus for my blog - Why do you need a focus? I loved them for that. Over the past year I've noticed recurring themes and have slowly found an identity through the writing, and I think you'll find the same thing happen to you.<br /><br />Thank you again, Kim. This was beautifully written.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com