Being Selfish

“Sometimes finishing that book means the kids don’t take a bath every night and the dishes pile up in the sink.”

Every creative outlet is ultimately selfish.  No one can write if they spend their entire day catering to the demands of others.  You have to lock yourself away in the bedroom, closet, office, or bathroom to avoid distractions.  There is, of course, a fine line between putting your words on paper and neglecting those who love you.

As the author above stated, you may send the kids to bed without their customary bath because a chapter is burning at you and you can’t write it until they’re asleep.  You can’t lock them in a closet with a muzzle for peace and quiet.  You stop washing dishes right after using them and catch up when it can fill your dish strainer.  Just don’t wait until they’re growing bacteria and little flies are hovering over the sink.

Clothes aren’t washed on a schedule, either.  You end up wearing the same jeans and shirt two days in a row because you forgot to put the dirty stuff to wash.  Thank goodness you only left that computer chair to grab a meal and use the bathroom.  If you end up wearing the same clothes for a week and you haven’t bathed, put down the pen or step away from the computer.  You’ve gone too far.

Even musicians are selfish.  Do you really think they can perfect a riff or melody with a spouse nagging them or kids screaming or a person talking to them?  They find the time to distance themselves from distractions.  A recording studio is important not only for the equipment.  It’s easy to isolate themselves from distractions because all that’s around them is people and items intended for the creation of music.  Unless the distractions come to visit.

Painters, designers – all of the creative arts need a moment alone to solidify the idea that entered their brains.  It begins in the mind.

The excuse of ‘I don’t have time’ no longer applies once you use this philosophy.  Sit down, take a look at your life as a whole, and start clearing your calendar.  If you can’t succeed at this step, you will never be a writer because you will never have a manuscript to show the work.