My dad used to wake me up every morning with a knock on my door, then he’d say, “It’s a jungle out there, and the whole world’s ahead of you.”
Most of my life I plunged out of bed worrying that I’d never catch up, that the world would always be way out in front while I struggled to get my chubby monkey foot in the proverbial rat race. I’m an anxious and panicky person. Maybe starting my day this way has something to do with that. [thinking face emoji goes here]
I’ve tried and tried to keep up with what are my own expectations in the writing world. I try to write every day (but sometimes bake pies instead). I try to stay focused on one project, but often have two or three going at one time, or maybe can’t find the inspiration to work on even one. I try to keep up with some modicum of good social media skills to keep that publicity alive even when I don’t have a book out recently or care one iota about popularity.
Some of this makes me happy. Some of this anxiety is great for accountability (hello, nothing like time chasing you to get a book done). But mostly it’s all just a big jungle with lions and tigers and bears in my periphery. (Do bears even live in a jungle?)
Then one day someone pointed out to me that “It’s a jungle out there, and the whole world’s ahead of you” has a double-entendre meaning. Instead of thinking of the whole world already succeeding and leaving me behind, I needed to think of it as the whole world was out their WAITING for me. Would Opportunity just twiddle its thumbs while I slept in? Maybe the world was idling its engine, not zooming off.
It’s hard to break that 60 year old habit of jumping out of bed trying to get a headstart on something, anything, but it’s nice to know that someone somewhere is not getting out of bed before me, and maybe, just maybe I can breathe a little easier knowing that what I accomplish today matters, no matter how big or small. And that I might not win the race, and there’s not really a race anyway, but that’s okay. That’s the biggest win of all.
What does this have to do with YOUR accountability? Everyone has a different way of finding a path to their desk chair. Find what works for you. Some people don’t write every day, and somehow get a lot done. But for most of us, we need to show up every day (or close to it) to keep the flow of the story, creativity, mind muscle moving. What is your current habit, and does it work, or do you want to shift it one way or another? I’d love to hear about it in the comments. Because without purpose we don’t achieve the dream. So, no pressure, but we gotta get out of bed some of the time.
And, always remember the whole world is ahead of you, waiting patiently. In fact, I think it’s eating a popsicle while it waits and therefore is in no big hurry.
Orcas Retreat coming up this August. Click on this link. Two spots left. You and a writing partner? A husband, a daughter, a neighbor? We will write, revise, talk about the writing life, and I’ll read you bedtime stories. Plus more. We might even laugh.
I adore how you organized these posts! I adore the metaphors within this jungle post! I adore you, friend!
P is for pretty wonderful writer friend named PJ!