Find Your Joy

The past month or so has been pretty crazy around the world. You all know what I’m talking about, and I’m going to leave it at that. I am a teacher and have been google classrooming from home. Every day my facebook feed is full of the trials and tribulations of everything being closed. It is also full of people who are overly positive about the whole situation. Honestly, I fall somewhere in the middle.

I’ve been writing almost everyday. Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. I wonder if I’m using my time at home effectively. A poem by Emma Zeck beckons me:

I have to remind myself daily that what I am doing is enough. And although there have been some – really big – struggles along the way, there is joy in all of this too.

A friend of mine suggested that I check out Rachel Hollis and her lifestyle blog. One of her posts is about making a JOY LIST. These are things that make you happy even if they don’t make sense to other people. Like a perfect cup of coffee, or watching the first flowers of Spring emerge from the ground.

So here is my JOY LIST
Writers’ Edition.

FINISHING MY NOVEL

I find JOY in finishing my middle grade lgbtq novel, one page at a time. I pantsed this one folks, so it’s taking longer than I would have wanted, but there is definitely joy in any progress made because it is a story that I adore. I’ve also come up with a new title as well.

ZOOMING WITH MY CRITIQUE GROUP

I find JOY in meeting up with my monthly critique group – even if it’s by Zoom. We had an amazingly productive meeting this week. We were all remote but the camaraderie, the respect, the love of writing still comes through.

WRITING A SCREENPLAY

Because why not? Trying something new always give me JOY. A small film company put out a call for thirty minute screenplays for a staged reading on Zoom with hired actors. I had an old play that I hadn’t looked at in a long time, so I adapted it for a screenplay. The characters needed modifying and the plot needed a lot of thickening, but I did it. Even if I don’t get picked to participate, I found joy in an old piece of writing.

WRITING A NEW SONG FOR MY MUSICAL

If you have been following my posts, you will know that I am writing a musical for my students based on Jack and the Beanstalk. I find great JOY in writing a lyric and then finding the music that flows with it. There is also joy when I post it for my students to preview, and I see that they’ve listened to some of the other songs on the album 95 times!

NOT WRITING

There are some days where I just don’t feel like writing. And that’s okay too! There is JOY in the pause of writing.

Where do you find your JOY? Feel free to share with the Writers’ Rumpus!