How We Spend Our Days

Summer updates and recommendations

Last Time: Like Eat, Pray, Love But Without the Food and Travel

Photo by Etienne Girardet on Unsplash

“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” —Annie Dillard, The Writing Life

Summer break has been filled, so far, with a lot of time at the pool (my son has swim team practice twice a day and weekly swim meets). Also: homemade rockets, summer storms, a haul of fresh library books, grading discussion boards online, and thinking about creativity and my creative life.

All our regular routines are out the window, which I kinda hate, but I also know is probably good for me.

I’m trying to keep my creative life drama-free, without angst about the time I do or do not spend at my desk. The drama stays on the page, in the scene, not in my day-to-day life. It’s a constant goal. In The Right to Write, Julia Cameron says, “Keeping the drama on the page is ruthless, enlightened self-interest.”

Strong boundaries are my super power. At least that’s the goal.

Sometimes it feels like my creative life, especially the reading and the writing suffer during summer’s lack of routine. When I really look at how I spend my days, though, I see a lot of joy. There’s really no lack.

How are you spending your days lately? Here is how I am spending mine: