It’s so easy to get discouraged in this business, Gentle Reader. I mean, of course, the business of words, in which I am both an academic and a creative writer. I am in the middle of several projects, but of the two bearing a mention, the Austen/Gaskell Literary Tourism Project (academic) and the Sequel to Becoming Project (creative). But when your projects don’t bear fruit, it’s easy to despair.
I’ve been wallowing in it for a bit now, and I really loathe this part of me: the whiny, never get it done because I’m too obsessed with the end result part of me. But as the end result for both is publication, it’s easy to see where the end result is the everything result.
Yes, I know, the journey is as important as the result. I know the platitudes, am familiar with the JUST WRITE and YOU SHOULD BE WRITING varieties. But sometimes, a girl has to get her whine on, no?
I am not a jealous person by nature. I am truly happy for friends and their successes, and I don’t see myself in competition with other people. I am always, however, in competition with myself. And when I don’t see an end in sight, or a positive result on the horizon, I tend to grind my teeth and grrrr my way through life.
A rambling bear. That’s me, right now.
What do you do when you get grumpy, Friends? What’s your solution to beating back the grumpmonster?
The Postmodern Bluestocking 