I have 15 minutes left to meet today’s deadline. That’s…let’s see… 900 seconds.

Why did I wait until the last minute to write again? Because today was crazy busy and this morning, the muse was not visiting. She was off somewhere, cavorting with my coffee fairy because she forgot to bring me coffee this morning while I made delicious sourdough pancakes.

After clearing the table, I sat down at the computer, music blasting through headphones as I checked in with some of my #PPDChat mamas. Then I attempted to brainstorm this evening’s topic for our chat – that didn’t work so I used the Sheldon approach toward solving issues – mindless chores/work. I folded laundry.

Didn’t work but I got the laundry folded. That’s a win, right?

This afternoon was filled with errands, lunch, a quick jaunt to the bookstore, another errand, then a Skype call, run to the grocery store, dinner, chat and then TV with the goal of writing whilst watching. It’s nearly two hours later and I’m shy of 200 words with 10 minutes before midnight.

I am facing defeat here.

I have managed to write 500 words every single day this month, the most I have written since before my divorce. It has been lovely even if all of it has not been share-worthy. The mental exercise of writing every day is transforming me much like a Jillian exercise video would transform my abs if I would just garner the energy to tear the plastic wrap off the outside of the DVD.

I am doing that too, getting back into exercising, something I have written about recently. At one point, I brainstormed a post examining similarities between swimming at the gym and the art of writing. They’re both terribly similar, really.

Writers compare themselves to other writers. We hide in our skins, in our caves built of our own words, thinking that we are not as good as those who have managed to build mansions out of their words. It’s okay though, because we all have to start somewhere and it is much easier to build a cave first, isn’t it?

Writers have different styles. We come in all shapes, sizes, and levels of quirkiness. We do what works for us. Apparently for me, I like to wait until the last minute to get my writing done because well, there’s nothing like last minute pressure to get things done, right? (It’s the way my entire day has felt for some reason – hurried and rushed. I am SO looking forward to a more relaxed day tomorrow!)

Writers have different goals. Some of us may want to build that mansion on top of the hill. Others may be perfectly happy living in that cave we have fashioned out of the thesaurus. Both are perfectly fine. Write for you. Write from the heart. Be authentic. Be bold. Put it out there. Don’t put it out there. But write if that’s what your heart yearns for you to do. It won’t be happy if you shove it in the corner.

Because we all know… nobody puts Baby in the corner, right?

Just like that, with 60 seconds to go, I have 500 words.

G’night, y’all.