In Page after Page, Heather Sellers asks, ‘Is your writing life going to be a lover in the center of your life? The thing you pulse toward, the fever in your soul? Or is your writing life more of a casual crush, something you think about, but don’t do much about?’
I would ask you the same thing, but about all creative pursuits – whatever sets your heart on fire. Is it a lover at the center of your life?
For me, it’s creative journaling… and a bunch of other creative interests I have difficulty categorising:
- Painting
- Writing fiction
- Creating found poetry
- Creating inspiration cards
- Blogging
- Typography/handwriting
- Collage and mixed media
- Visioning journals
- Crafting – using stamps and washi tape and stickers…
These are the things I ‘pulse toward’. These are lovers at the center of my life. How do I know? Well, it’s much like a love affair:
- I can’t focus on my job.
- I don’t want to make plans in case I can spend that time with my ‘lover’.
- I need to see my lover each day.
- I feel complete with my lover, like I don’t know how I lived before.
- I get a rush of excitement at the thought of spending time alone with my lover.
- Instead of checking my phone for texts, I’m checking my instagram and browsing blogs for inspiration.
Sometimes, the feeling is almost too much to bear. I want to spend every spare minute with my lover, but other things get in the way. Work gets in the way. Housework gets in the way. I’m tired after a day of taking care of others. We try to steal moments together, but it never feels like it’s enough.
I wish I had a solution to offer here. But I don’t. All I can say is that this feeling is so delicious, so exquisite; I have to keep following it. Nothing sets me alight like it. Even though I can’t spend all the time in the world with my lover, I know we are meant to be together. I need to just keep following my heart.
What is the lover at the center of your life?
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