Two author friends and I have recently begun holding write-ins at our local library. We bring our computers/notebooks (actual spiral-bound notebooks) and take a break from laundry, house, kids, phone calls, chickens, cats, and dogs in order to actually get something accomplished. And, hey, it's working. The three of us happen to be women, though we have a man in our larger group, Mid South Writers.
It's amazing to me what women can accomplish when we close out the world for a few hours, when we put our dreams ahead of our home and family for a short time--it's astounding what wonders we can achieve. We craft entire civilizations and put our characters in impossible circumstances, then find a way for them to escape alive and relatively unscathed. Or, as in my case, we sometimes kill our characters. (Sorry, kids--killing my characters irks my daughter, and my son pointed out that there is death in the first paragraph of "Season of Crows." I didn't realize it until he mentioned it.)
It makes me wonder how many astronauts and oceanographers and chemists spend their days tied to a stove. How many professors and steel workers and engineers find themselves on the wrong end of a diaper for most of their waking hours? And how many presidents and prime ministers spend their days tossing fruit snacks and dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets in their shopping cart?
As a general rule, women tend to sacrifice their own ambitions in order to allow others to follow their dreams. I say let's ALL sacrifice for our families and our homes--husbands, wives, AND children. Rather than burdening one person, when the sacrifice is shared it allows everyone in the family to pursue their dreams and discover what they were always meant to be.
So, today I will not wash clothes. I will not cook or sweep. I will not babysit the chickens. I will embark on a journey into another reality, and I will relish every moment of it.
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