A Ramble Through My Week
paper plates, book deadlines, social media limits, books that are friends
Last week, I bought 200 paper plates as an investment in my writing life. 3 meals a day x 7 days in a week x 10 people living in this house = 210 paper plates. (That is 30 plates a day that don’t have to get washed…) I used the plates to talk my family into giving me the week to work on my self-imposed book deadline. I locked myself in my office and worked on the final copy and format of my book.
It has been an incredible week. I can see the end in sight. My book, The Sacred Everyday: A Search for the Exquisite Beauty of an Ordinary Life is going to be a real book that I will hold in my hands. I cannot tell you what a dream come true that is going to be. I can’t wait to share it with you.
This week I will be working on scanning and placing images, as well as working out ideas for my cover art.
I have made a commitment to only be on social media one day a week until this book is finished. So while I will still be posting here and sharing/responding on facebook and instagram weekly, I will be taking a bit of a break to give my mind as little clutter as possible. I will be running out of paper plates you know, and also getting back into the normal routine of life/motherhood/homeschool/music lessons, etc., so I am going to need as much mental clarity as I can get. I gave myself the last week off of social media, and I actually have a lot to say about how that has affected my thought-life and my productivity. I will likely share more in a podcast soon because I am feeling there is something more significant than I can yet articulate in letting go of this for a season. Something about surrendering to an inward urgency and letting the world go on without you… I feel a calling to finish this book. And saying no to the clamour of social media is one act that benefits me doubly—giving me more time and more focused peace of mind.
Yesterday was our shabbat, and I spent a good deal of the day refusing my desire to work more. Instead, I turned to my copy of The Lord of the Rings, which I have been reading (for the first time!) for a few months now. I am nearing the end of the whole grand story and it is so satisfying to my soul. I have been thinking about how books have been friends to me all of my life. How certain volumes have been like an arm around the shoulders to me. I feel this keenly with this book. There is so much help unlooked for and unexpected. There is hope, though it is threadbare, upon which the whole world hinges. I know the story ends well. But I don’t know how it all plays out. And this, to me, is a picture of life on earth. Our hope, though it seems stretched thin across the wide chasm of grief and despair, will hold. And the story will be told. And it will end beautifully, with every detail a testament to the love and grace and beauty of our God.
Thank you, friends, for staying with me through this rambly letter. My prayer is that you will find the sacred beauty this day holds for you. And that you will walk in the grace of God through each moment of it.
Love,
Mackenzie