So I’ve made a huge, tiny mistake…
I’m hunkered down in a cute little Airbnb in Oregon for a few days of uninterrupted, intensive writing time. ALONE.
Well, almost alone.
I decided to tag along with Amber for the weekend. Which is not some weird, third-person reference by the way- my best friend’s name is actually also Amber. (I know, how kitschy, right?)
She’s here to begin her yoga certification and I’m here to get some serious writing done. And by serious I mean there will be lots of GIFs involved and hopefully one or two morsels of actual creative writing thrown in. And snack breaks. Because priorities.
So I sit down at the desk this morning full of hope and good intentions, open my laptop, and go to plug it into the wall only to realize I’VE LEFT MY CHARGER AT HOME.
Classic Salhus. 🤦🏼♀️
I did manage to bring my iPad as backup, but failed to remember the keyboard that goes with it.
Can you tell it’s my first writing getaway? (Don’t answer that.)
So I’m sitting here writing to you because, well, for starters I needed a break from book proposal stuff, and for enders, I just love you guys so hard and I needed some of our good ol’ fashioned banter.
Can I make a confession?
Writing to you here is my favorite kind of writing.
Sometimes when I’m having a hard time knowing where to start, what to write about, or just feeling stuck in general, I just sit down and start typing to you. I don’t know why, but I feel safe with you guys, like I don’t have to filter myself or try to hard. I feel laid back and easy with you, like we’re sitting on a couch with a glass of wine just catching up on our things.
So tell me your things, dear friends.
How is your January going?
Is it wonky or wonderful?
Do you feel energized and excited or are you still struggling to recalibrate your normal-life rhythms after the holidays?
Are we allowed to choose All of the Above? Because I definitely identify with all of those statements.🙋🏼
While our Thanksgiving was quiet and relaxing on the beaches of Maui, our Christmas was full and loud and a bit chaotic.
We hosted family for 10 days, we cooked the big Christmas Eve dinner and the even bigger Christmas Day brunch. It was all a blur of memory making, gift giving, clinking glasses, and bodies piled together on our too-small couches.
It was also hours on my feet in the kitchen, a bazillion loads of laundry and dishes, roughly 87 trips to the grocery store, and never enough toilet paper.
For me hosting is an odd mix of life-giving and life-draining.
It’s fun and I like it, but then I’m kind of wrecked afterwards. The older I get the more I realize this about myself so I’m learning to allow time and space to decompress in the aftermath of busyness.
It’s okay to do that, you know. Just in case you needed some permission too.
Anyway, I really need to get back to my proposal before my battery life runs out, but before I go, I have one more question:
What dream is on the forefront of your mind as you head into 2018?
What thing is singed onto your heart like a stamp, tapping you on the shoulder, or stomping it’s foot in the peripheral of your consciousness?
Maybe it’s photography or music or opening up that small business.
Maybe it’s none of those, but whatever it is, I dare you to name it.
I dare you to pull it out from the corners of your heart and to put it right there under the spotlight and to name it.
Out loud. Or just write it down if speaking it feels too scary. Write it here! Leave a comment and tell us what it is. We’ll keep it safe. Promise.
I think there’s so much power in naming the things we long to move towards and speaking them aloud to God. It makes them real when it’s so easy to pretend they’re not.
So here, I’ll start.
My dream for 2018 is to write this ding-a-ling book. It terrifies me to admit that because I know in my knower that there’s a very big chance it won’t happen…
But you know what? So what.
I suppose part of me would be devastated and bereft, sure. It is a dream after all. But if I’m being totally honest there’s a whole other part of me that will feel an odd sense of relief. Because ever since this idea tapped me on the shoulder, I’ve been carrying it around like a monkey on my back.
Sometimes it’s fun and playful and I want to feed it. Other times I just want it to leave me alone so I can take a nap or watch Netflix, but there it is anyway, flinging poo at me and refusing to be ignored.
Dreams are messy. Apparently so are my metaphors.
I think the point is that hate only way to accomplish a goal is to move towards it one step at a time.
So maybe this year you sign up for that photography class, or guitar lessons, write that story and show it to someone, or march down to the city planner and get the permits you need for your small business. (Is that even how it works? 🤷🏼♀️)
I’ll be here, cheering you on.
Alright, I’m off to feed the book monkey. Let’s hope for more words than Megaphone and Rectangle. For all our sakes.
Jamie says
Love this! I hope you get a lot done this weekend….. maybe what you should do is get out a pen and paper and write. Y’know, the old fashioned way? Then type it out when you get home. That sounds woodsy and disconnected to me (but WAAAAAAY connected to yourself and God and nature and thought all at the same time!)
My dream for 2018 is to dig into my creativity, to design and to sell the crap out of some houses and make just as much or more money than my husband – did I write that?
ambersalhus@msn.com says
I love this Jamie! I love designing, renovating, and flipping houses. So much fun. Wishing you luck in 2018!