Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Looking for purpose

As a stay at home mom, I feel like I'm constantly looking for purpose.  Don't get me wrong.  I know that raising three boys is a perfectly legitimate purpose, really I do.  But sometimes after telling someone to put their shoes on for the four hundredth time and finding you use the word potty way to often to describe your forays to the bathroom, you begin to realize that maybe it couldn't hurt to find another hobby outside your children.  That's where writing comes into play (ok, and sewing and decorating, as well and yes it's not technically a hobby, but also shopping).  I realize that I have an issue with commitment, but despite this I really want to work on becoming a better writer.  I've always wanted to write my own novel, even though I know it would probably be fairly sophomoric when finished and the only person that would ever enjoy reading it would be me.   To top it off, I have no idea what I would write about, although after living in this neighborhood for a year now, I definitely see some potential in a few thoughts (you really have to live here to fully understand; hence the story idea). 

I've taken a writing class in the past and really enjoyed it.  I also think about NaNoWriMo every year when it comes time, but don't ever end up doing it because it's such a tough time of the year to be investing that level of time into a hobby.  But what I'm wondering, is how hard it would be to attempt to write a page a day for a year and in the end come up with what would hopefully be a somewhat mildly entertaining novel or at the very least, a sense of accomplishment that at least I committed myself to a task and finished it.  So what do you think?  Should we get started? :)

2 comments:

  1. Hey Julie,
    As you can see, I just found your blog. :) As a divorced woman I have to say I see you as being fantastic at commitment. You are married, have three little boys, and as you wrote above and as I know very well, it's really hard. It's really hard to stay home and take care of babies when you are an intelligent woman.

    I can't tell you how much I admire you because I can't find words to describe it. I have seen you make commitments to hard birth choices and hard single parenting when your husband traveled for work. If anything, I would argue that you personify commitment the way it matters. You are committed to your marriage and your family and that means more than any other project you could come up with.

    If you start working on a novel, or a cookbook, I would love to read it as you go and give feedback, but I want you to know that I admire you a great deal and in no small part for the commitment I see you show to things that matter in life!

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  2. Amy,

    I just saw this now. thanks so much for the sweet comments! You are a great person too and I'm so glad that I was able to get to know you through Camilla. Now if you only lived closer! :)

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