I’m on vacation with my parents and son this week but
brought my laptop along so I could keep up with e-mail, post a lesson for an on-line workshop that I’m teaching, and do my blog posting. Then my computer started doing some really weird things and I had to pack it up for the week. Thankfully my dad let me use his laptop for the posts (thank you God for portable flash drives) but I am silently freaking out about what I’ll do once I get home. In the mean time I’m taking
this as God’s way of telling me that I need to take a vacation from my computer.
As a writer who rarely goes a day without sitting in front of the screen, this will be very difficult. But I’m looking forward to reaping the benefits of . . .
Taking a real vacation, including a vacation from technology
Letting my eyes rest
Letting my brain rest
Having a good excuse not to find something to work on
Spending uninterrupted time with family for an entire week
Possibly coming up with some fresh new ideas
God knows that I need to be forced to do these things sometimes. To top it off, Dad forgot his power chord so once the battery runs out, that’s it. So I have to cut my post short.
So I’ll leave you with a question: when has God forced you to take a break? How did you benefit as a writer? I look forward to sharing what I gain from this.
Maybe you can also say a quick prayer for my computer.
Kathleen L. Maher
October 6, 2009 - 03 : 42 : 56Ha! this is such a writer-ly topic, I wonder if non-writers could even relate. Love it!
ReplyMy son spent three days in the hospital last month, and I stayed with him. During that time, it was all about his care and no internet connection LOL so I was on a forced sabbatical.
It was hard–I wanted to check emails, edit my wip, connect to the whole writing network thing that has consumed my life the past year and a half. But in those three days, I taught my son chess, shared a few movies with him, and we reconnected.
I hadn’t realized how much I had been holding loved ones at bay with my computer obsession before that.
And when I did return to writing once he was recovered and we came home, I appreciated my family and my writing time all the more. I was able to think about plotting my next book, and even came up with a few ideas on the current ones to make them better.
God knows when we sit and when we stand. Trust Him with those breaks in your schedule! He knows best.