Which came first ... the writing or my life?

It is Monday evening, and I am just about up to here with work. Don't get me wrong, as the owner of a small business existing in a struggling economy, we need to work, to generate a profit, to make money and pay the bills. But by the end of this weekend I was just about to blow my top.

Why?

Well, it's like this. Finally, after going through the slow business period of the holiday season (my line of work is not terribly busy during the holiday's, hence revenue goes down -- perfect timing, too, as I would like it to be up so I can have plenty of money to buy Christmas presents), the new year started a little slower than usual. It is now roaring along at top speed. Good thing, right? Well, yes, because we need to generate revenue so everyone gets paid (especially me). But what this leads to, since the year started out slow, is that the clients are starting to come around and shoot work at us with a vengeance. This is combined with the fact that the tax preparation season is upon us. I do have an accountant for the business, but she can't do it all. I have to do some of the prepping for it before giving it over for her to do the number crunching. So, sudden influx of work after being incredibly slow, plus tax preparation, equals almost zero time for writing. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

I am writing, mind you. Heck, I am writing right now in drafting this blog. But I need more. I am an addict and I need bigger highs. And all this other stuff ... this ... these things we collectively throw into the basket we call life is getting in the way.

Which begs the question: Which came first ... the writing or my life?

One can realistically argue that it is necessary to do these other things in order to survive, to eat, to provide for my family, to fund a retirement, etc. So life outside of the writing must go on. Without it there can be no writing (chiefly because the electricity would be shut off that runs the computer I am typing on).

But there is the other side. The yearning of the human soul side of things that says, what is the point of living if one cannot pursue happiness? Happiness to me is writing, creating, placing words upon the page in such a fashion that it is literally musical.

So how do we balance things? For me, at least this weekend, it begins with the germinating seeds of revolution. In fact, this very weekend I spent most of it working on reports, closing out assignments, working on taxes, and by the time I hit Sunday afternoon, I was mentioning to the "Genius" (read, the wife) that I was about to revolt. And that is exactly what I did. At approximately 3:30 p.m on Sunday the rebellion ensued. I stopped working and started writing. What's more, I wasn't even writing (or rather re-writing, mind you) my novel. I was working on a couple of different short story projects. Although I should have been working on the second draft of the novel, so shoot me.

The basic truth of the matter was that my mind yearned to do more than simply be. To simply exist is not enough, especially if one has an artistic bent. Scratch that -- it is not human to simply exist, to survive, to eat and sleep, and just make a living. What would be the point? A person must be more than what they do to earn their keep. Some choose painting. Some choose charity work. Others are missionaries. And then there are those like me who like to write. It is my way of contributing positively to humanity. It is the essence of the soul. So, if all one does is work, work, work, the soul is neglected. If it is neglected too long ... viva la revolucion!

I present this to you. One must work to eat. True. But one must create to live. How you find the time is up to you, but find it. Even if there is a ton of things to do. There are five loads of laundry to wash, a ton of dishes, fifteen thousand reports to generate, three billions widgets to manufacture. Stop!

Take a break! Even if you are in the middle of the assembly line building widgets. Take a moment and do what is important to your soul. Even if it is just thirty minutes, do it!

"But I have so much to do!" you yell at me. True, you do. But if you take the time to nourish the soul, you will be reinvigorated and, hence, that much more efficient in completing those three billion widgets. And your attitude will be much better, because you got to do what you like to do. Heck, despite the thirty minutes, or three hours, you lost doing what you enjoy (in my case, writing), you may even find your widget making productivity increase and thereby erase the time lost.

It is necessary to do this, you know. Because if you don't, sure enough ... viva la revolucion!