(Fresh flowers in the window)

Lately I’ve been reminded that not everything is about the outcome. More often than not, a greater value is found in the process.

Sometimes, we hold a job for the money (let’s discuss my flower shop experience, shall we?). But I can’t do that when I’m writing.

I had noticed a significant decrease in progress in my writing. Yes I was still moving forward, but it was labored and painful.
Then it seemed like everything I read, many conversations I had, all seemed to be reminding me that life is an art – and art is made for its own sake.

It’s been easy for me to feel pressured.
I’ve been writing this book for AN ENTIRE DECADE. Everyone knows about it. I quit my job to write, and you know what everyone’s first question is when they meet me (after, ‘How tall are you?’ anyway) – “So, what do you do?” And then I have to report progress made on my book. I get to see my husband come home tired from days of school and work, whether I made great progress or not.

The last month or so has been one big reminder to LET IT GO.

Forget expectations. Forget reputations. Forget editors and publishers and whether or not I’ll ‘make it’.

I do this because I love it. I began this book because I wanted to read the story in my heart. That was it. I didn’t do it for the publishing deal.

The value is in the process – just like relationships. Even the ones that ended poorly hold valuable memories. Those relationships were never about the outcome.

And neither is life.