by CJ Meyerly, @mdippedinink
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and in many ways that ushers in the most stressful time of the year. We may have the best intentions, but the baking, the shopping, and church events can cloud our joy if we let it. On top of that, as authors, we may be working on a deadline.
How do we keep the joy in the Christmas season?
2018 has been the most stressful year of my life. We moved to a new state, and my sweet three-year-old boy was diagnosed with sensory processing disorder. The move unsettled him, which led to more sensory overload, and that meant exhausting days of meltdowns, where he couldn’t handle his emotions. Since I normally write while my kids are sleeping that often meant I was emotionally drained by the time he was asleep. I had nothing left in me to write.
I had a 2018 goal of finishing my novel and submitting it to an agent. However, my novel isn’t complete. I can either put more pressure on myself to finish editing, or I can put less pressure on myself. As I weighed my decision, I reminded myself that my son will only be three once, and as exhausting as this season can be, it is also special and one-of-a-kind. And temporary.
In this Christmas season, I have three goals.
Remember the reason for the season. As a homeschool mom, I’m structuring our learning around Christ’s birth in the month of December. Through this, I’m reminded of why Jesus came—to die for our sins so that we might live. And that is a truth I hope to impress on my children. As a Christian author, the reason for the season is also the reason for my writing. I write to reveal the lies we often believe so that we may accept the truth.
Enjoy time with family. My daughter will only be five once, and my son will only be three once. There will come a time when my children are grown, and Christmases where I might not be able to enjoy their company.
The most important way to ensure you have the time for your family is to learn to say no to the business of the season. You can spend time baking and shopping and attending church events, but you can also decide when enough is enough, and you’d rather curl up on the couch with your kids or grandkids or nieces and nephews and just read to them.
Enjoy writing again. It’s easy to lose the joy of writing to deadlines and rules. This Christmas season, my goal is to continue rewriting my novel, with no deadlines. I’m blocking out time to write, but that’s about it. For one month, I’m just writing.
Our journeys may not all look the same, but we all have stress. In this Christmas season, let’s choose to recapture our joy in the season and in our writing.
CJ Myerly lives in Texas with her husband and two children. She balances her passions of teaching and writing by homeschooling during the day and writing contemporary romance while her family sleeps at night. She hates clutter, loves organization, and has a love-hate relationship with technology. CJ is an active member of the ACFW and My Book Therapy. She was a 2017 Genesis semi-finalist in the contemporary category and a 2017 First Impressions finalist in the romance category. She blogs about books, motherhood, and homeschooling at http://momentsdippedinink.com. To connect with her, find her on Facebook or Twitter.