Hello Fellow Children’s Writers and Friends,

Yellow cars were all the rage some time ago as was my children’s rather aggressive game of Spotto Safe. For the uninitiated, one simply spots a yellow car before anyone else and taps, slaps or thumps the person beside them while saying ‘spotto safe’. Forget to say ‘safe’ and be prepared to receive payment in kind. What I found amazing was just how many yellow cars there suddenly seemed to be on the road.
It’s been a little like that for me lately with balance. It seems that the universe has been screaming at, and whispering to me to regain some balance on my writing journey. I have been enjoying making contacts and friends and joining wonderful online writing groups and exploring the blogs, websites, posts of all my new contacts. I honestly have, but as is often the case technology proves to be among other things a cunning thief. I was beginning to find myself experiencing a duality of emotion, simultaneously stimulated (overstimulated) peppered with a growing touch of resentment and guilt. I wanted to see, hear and know it all, I wanted to laugh, cry, empathise and I wanted to stop it all at the same time so I could actually write! Ahhh breathe…. I’ve heard that this is a common pitfall faced by creatives.

As I began to realise I needed a bit of balance, I also found that I was not the only one hankering for a technology free, simple past… for a while anyway. I also found that once I’d named that metaphorical yellow car, the universe began a thankfully less aggressive game of Spotto Safe with me. I heard the call for balance whispered through posts of groups I was still following and still am to a lesser degree- tap. I heard the call spoken clearly as I watched the original Karate Kid with my family a fortnight ago, ‘Bonsai Danielsun, bonsai’- slap. I heard the call shouted in the immensely increased workload of my day job at present coupled with the remnants of a school holiday flu; expected yes, even the flu,* all consuming you bet- thump! Spotto

Aha Universe! You forgot to ‘safe’ that time- thump! You see fellow travellers I’ve discovered something, not only have I managed to find time to somehow get almost everything done with work, home, community involvement and even a little bit of social media, something I was quite anxious about, I’ve even found an increased, a renewed energy. I fall into bed exhausted sure, but I’m somehow more energised during the day than I was before. ‘Want something done…ask a busy person’. When this period of increased day job work slows down again, I hope I remember to keep as active, productively busy and energised as possible, with proper revitalising sleep and a little social media; balance. Ahhh breathe… oh and thanks universe for the ready audience of my own class of little critics. By the way, did any of you notice that this blog’s title would probably be a great title for a story? I did and the ideas are already churning away in my busy little mind, who knows one day I may be blogging about my new book of the very same name. Well that’s it from me tonight.

Farewell fellow travellers,

Savour the quest,

Journeygirl
* Good teachers inevitably get sick in the holidays as they stop running and relax a little.