By Christine Thackeray
When the movie City Slickers came out, I remember Jack Vance as the annoying bad cowboy who said that for each of us just ONE THING really matters. For all of us that ONE THING is different. My brothers were fascinated by the "ONE THING" concept and each had a different idea of what theirs was. (We all took for granted that the big 'one thing' was the church, so we weren't allowed to go religious with it.)
I remember one of my brothers thought it was playing sports, another watching football and the third getting into a good college. Everything else they did was to make time for their 'one thing.'
Well, this week I thought my "ONE THING" was writing. My third son is preparing to go on a mission and agreed to take over the food prep and laundry so I could write this week. I rolled up my sleeves to do it, but nothing came. Finally, I looked around me at my son home sick, my daughter struggling to prep for her ACT and my husband working on his master's program. I found that my "One Thing" this week became number two as I focused on them for the last few days.
It's funny how when the family is all cared for my words often flow, but sometimes my writer's block is caused by latent guilt for other things I need to be doing that I can't ignore. Tomorrow Anna takes her ACT, I've promised Greg the morning and I'm hoping next week I can roll up my sleeves with my happy "One Thing" in auto pilot so I can focus on number two.
Oh my goodness, Christine! I can so relate to this post. Writing seems to flow when the most critical stewardships are attended to. I have experienced this trying to complete my degree, too...nine years later (after waiting 21 years) I am still plodding along...and that's ok. Thanks for the validation!
ReplyDeleteThis post was so simple yet so profound. Thank you so much. I too can't write until I have taken care of my responsibilities. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHmmmm I'm gonna have to figure out my one big thing.
ReplyDeleteYou're so right, Christine. It can be so hard to get to writing sometimes that it seems it has to be the One Thing, but when a family member comes in needing me I need to turn away from the computer and try again later. Thanks for the reminder.
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