The Sunday Journal: rest and creativity

Welcome to the Sunday Journal! An informal, blog-style series that gives you a peek behind the scenes at my writing life and thoughts. Grab your tea and cozy up and let’s have a chat. 

I arrived home mid week from a whirlwind but productive research trip to Paris. I planned to hit the ground running on my sequel to The Perils of Poisons and Former Husbands, while all that I’d learned and saw was fresh in my head, but jet lag had other ideas. The hectic pace of the trip, combined with jumping into the middle of the school week with the kids and prepping for a big winter storm, left me with massive brain fog every time I sat down at the computer. I still wrote the best I could, trying to stick to my resolution to write a little bit every day, but I know those pages are in for some heavy editing. Combined with waking up at 3am for a few nights and dealing with the constant, heart-breaking news cycle in the US right now, I didn’t feel like I had much creativity left to give. 

It all got me thinking about two things. The first is how important rest is to our creativity. When we’re exhausted, burnt out, and constantly depleted, it can be hard to find any reserves for even our basic tasks, much less to take time to be creative. Apparently what I needed was a good winter storm, and having two days at home with no commitments and nothing to do except keep the family fed turned out to be really helpful. I sat on the couch for most of yesterday, golden retriever at my feet, and watched the first several installments of the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. What better time for four hours of Colin Firth back to back than in an ice storm? Thankfully, we never lost power, so my miniseries and back to back cups of hot tea were able to continue uninterrupted. I sewed this ruffled collar I’ve been working on on and off for weeks, and finally finished it while I was watching P&P. I had thought it would be a quick, easy project, but it ended up being a lesson in patience, and I’m not sure I’ll ever make one again – at least not one with a ruffle. 

The second thing I keep coming back to when thinking about creating, was something Jay Swanson said on his “20 in 20” vlog this weekend: creativity is agency. When things feel out of control, creativity allows us agency. We have the ability to make something, however big or small, to put something beautiful, profound, or helpful out into the world. This feels more important than ever in our current political climate. Creativity is choosing hope in the face of fear. Creativity is resistance. 

So I hope you can find ways to rest this week, and I hope you find ways to put a little spark of something beautiful back into the world. 

If you want to read more about my writing process, check out Michelle Watson’s interview on her Library Binding substack. You’ll learn about my childhood literary influences, one of my favorite fictional characters, and some of the best advice I’ve received for writing.

I can’t promise a new journal every Sunday, but I hope to make it a regular thing, and I hope you’ll join me.

The Sunday Journal lead photo by Sara Kristen Photography.