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S. A. J. Lyttek, a multiple award-winning writer, always loved writing, but didn’t arrive at the profession in the typical manner. After college and graduate school, she plunged into government consulting. In this environment, she discovered a knack for writing tests, interviews and other measurements. That soon became the focus of her career—reigniting her love for the written word. Thus captivated, she spent evenings freelancing “fun” writing including short stories, poems, articles and cards. When her eldest was a toddler, she quit full-time work to stay home and write. Eager to spend more time with her children, homeschooling intrigued her. From preschool through high school, she homeschooled both sons while continuing to freelance. An integral part of the homeschooling community, she has developed and taught writing classes to a generation of homeschoolers. Married to her childhood sweetheart, Gary, Mrs. Lyttek loves to share her commitment to homeschoolers and her fascination with the written word.
I didn’t want to wake up this morning.
Granted, I like my life, so waking up was better than not waking up. But I would have rather stayed in dream mode. There are so many little piddling reasons for that.
One, it’s hot. The last time I walked past our weather station it said the temp outside was 98F. While I know there are lots of places hotter, it doesn’t mean I like it or have to like it.
Two, I’ve had a low-grade headache for several days. It’s not enough to keep me from functioning, but it’s enough to make me tired and grumpy.
Which leads naturally into point three… I’m tired. Last night, was yet another night where I woke up in the middle of it and couldn’t go back to sleep for a while.
Writing all that, though, makes me feel like I’m whining. And in a way, I guess I am. But if I were in the real Doldrums, that would be breaking the law.
Earlier this month, I mentioned one of my favorite books ever in response to a Facebook post. That source of wisdom is the Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster. In that book, when Milo stopped paying attention to where he was going, he ended up in the Doldrums. Maybe I’ve done that, too.
I had certain plans, things I wanted to accomplish when this summer started. I signed up to take a course on how to turn some of my courses into e-books. Have I begun? No. I planned to have a new job by now. Granted, I don’t have a ton of control over that one. Have I been applying? Yes. Does it appear that anything is happening? No. I wanted to get a ton of writing done. Okay, on that one I can cut myself some slack. I have written several short stories. I just haven’t made as much progress on my book projects as I would like.
There are a bunch of other things, big and little, that were on my summer to-do list including having fun. I really haven’t done that at all. No. I’ve been camping out of the heat, reading and playing videogames more than I should. It’s called escapism.
The big problem, for me, with escaping, is that it only feels good for a moment or two. Then when I see the virtual pile teetering over me, I start panicking and holding my breath—neither of which is good for my blood pressure.
In the Phantom Tollbooth, the watchdog helps Milo out of the Doldrums by telling him to think and to focus. Perhaps this post is God’s way of reminding me to do the same things?