Impacts of stress

I ran into a fellow-writer yesterday.  As we talked about the upcoming writing group meeting, I mentioned to her I have had a difficult time writing lately.  As we chatted about life it became clear that stress was playing a huge part in my inability to focus.
I’m moving.  I’m packing up my little house in North Carolina.  I’m leaving my beautiful yard and the job I’ve held for four years.   I’ll drive to Georgia on Sunday morning and report to my new position on Monday. I will move into a new house. Make new friends. Set up a new office (home and work).
It’s my choice and I’m overjoyed about it.  But it’s still stressful.  Change is a lot of things. It is scary. Exhilarating. Inevitable. And it has affected more than just my physical life – it has affected my writing.

I’ve tried but the words just won’t come. I was on a plane recently (one of my favorite places to write) and could not focus. I found my mind wandering to the ever-growing list of things I needed to do.  Paperwork I was still waiting on.  Calls I needed to make.  I could not take my story to the next chapter.  I finally put my computer away and took out my journal and made a list… one of many I have written over the past few weeks.
I had a lovely room in California with a view of the sunsets and still the only thing I could come  up with were ideas to include in the third novel…but no actual words.  I took photos of the hummingbird and bunny outside my window but could not put words onto the page.
Ultimately, after an  unproductive flight home, I decided to show myself some of the grace I try to show others. I’ve decided to give myself time to close up my little house (my writing space has been the hardest to pack) and get this move done.  I’ve decided it’s okay if I am stalled for this brief moment (really it’s only been a few weeks) as the frustration at my futile attempts to create has only made the process more difficult.

In two days I will identify my new writing space in the new house. In a few weeks I will begin setting up my new writing space. I will carve out a place on the beautiful back porch which overlooks a lake.  I will set up a home office for when the weather does not cooperate and allow me to sit on the porch.  I will carefully arrange my character and plot maps on the walls, put up my whiteboard for ideas, and fill the room with books and beautiful memories (my many photos).  And in a few weeks I will be back to writing every day and the words will once again come freely.