penandpatience

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BUTTERFLY JOURNAL

July 2012 Monthly Musing

Writers should try to write every day.  For me, home and hearth, golf, cooking, and family soak up much of my time.

However, while I make these feeble excuses, I remembered a seminar I attended many years ago, “No Excuses,” presented by well-known speaker and consultant, Jay Rifenbary. The philosophy in “No Excuses” advises people to make time for the meaningful past-times and passions in their lives. Procrastination aside, I vowed to write daily even if it was just fifteen minutes a day.

Today I’m writing in a newly purchased flower-covered journal with a beautiful stone butterfly embedded in its front cover. Purchased in Mesa, Arizona during a late spring visit to celebrate my grandson’s high school graduation, I’m outside on a dreary afternoon with cloud cover hiding an intermittent sun. However, when the occasional ray of sunshine reflects off the butterfly’s purple and red stones, inspiration flows. Sometimes it’s the simpler pleasures in life that keep me true to my writing goals.

A story lays on the table next to me in a dubious stage of development. Two other writing projects in stages of disarray await their turn at bat.  This is my life as a writer and I approach the piles of paper with mixed enthusiasm.  Some stories I know have potential while others will become discarded fodder for the shredder.

I’m pleased that some of my work has been published–a noteworthy accomplishment. But I realize that I must continue to concentrate on unfinished projects. Self discipline is easier said than done.

To date, I’ve made three entries in the new journal. This July monthly musing took shape from the first entry while a title for another project emerged from the second. Two unexpected accomplishments came to fruition through a butterfly and fifteen minutes a day!