Taming the unquiet mind

It's a warm, windy day today, the kind where rippling leaves and waving branches break sunlight into ever-moving patterns--a perfectly beautiful day to curl up in a patch of sunlight and write. I have the time, I have forward momentum on a story rewrite, and I have a relatively peaceful place to work...and yet I'm having trouble beginning.

This happens sometimes. My mind refuses to settle. I was up late last night working; today, I have a sick kid worrying at one corner of my brain, a hundred potential "to-do's" clamoring for whatever attention remains. Despite my best intentions, despite turning my mind back to the task at hand a hundred times, I can't seem to skip past the standard host of writerly doubts.

Time to try a new tactic. A change of project? A walk, perhaps? (The dogs vote yes, but my mom-voice urges me to stay home with sick kid). Yoga? Meditation? Or maybe it's time to read a great book? Or run errands and silence some of those never-ending to-do's?

Maybe my mind needs to regroup for the next bout of creativity. Trust the process--I can hold onto that. I'll have a bit of yoga, I think, to settle my mind; and then I'll take another running start and see if I can get past my current writing hurdle, which is really more about my mind than my words. But then, maybe that's always the case.

Happy writing :)

Cheryl