In Repair

Have you ever listened to a song that you’ve heard a hundred times and suddenly felt like you're hearing it for the first time?

“I am in repair. I’m not together but I’m getting there”.

Those are the lyrics to a John Mayer song and they seem to be speaking about me. Lately, life has been a bit of a struggle but in the last week I feel like there has been a shift. Sunday was the first day of the 50,000 word challenge and I’ve thrown myself into it with an enthusiasm that I haven’t had in years. This has inspired me to push myself other areas as well. I have worked out every morning this week, which I haven’t done in months. I’ve even been washing the dishes every day and anyone who knows me well knows what a telling indicator that is of my mental health.

The writing itself is not going well. To be honest, the book is a load of crap at this point. I hate the characters and the plot and am only writing this story for lack of a more inspired idea but I’m trying to take the advice of the NaNoWriMo organizers to heart and just keep writing. Hopefully at some point in the next few weeks the words will take on a life of their own and the characters and plot will develop into something worth keeping.

Really, writing is not that different from life. Sometimes you just need to keep plodding on even when it seems like a load of crap and trust that at some point things will change for the better. Sub-plots and new characters that you never anticipated will suddenly find their way into your story. So I’ve started a new chapter in my story and I’m not sure what’s going to happen next but I’m looking forward to finding out.