One of my favorite images on Instagram is one that reads, being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest of your life. Because, it is, isn’t it? This is not necessarily a bad thing. I was always the nerd kid that loved homework and writing reports. But it can be a tiring thing. Because from the moment I wake up, I’m thinking, when am I going to write? I should be writing. Why aren’t I writing?

Most of the time, taking time off from writing is not an option, because it is such a compulsion. And those feelings tend to extend to all the related things I do as well. Since I’m always trying to find more time to write, I’m usually playing catch up with client work, writing blog posts and newsletters, into the weekend.

But all that is about to change.

I’m having surgery in three days and I am bound and determined to take time off.  For real time off. I’ll write in my journal or on my novel if I feel so compelled, and I have a couple long manuscripts to read, but beyond that, I’m not going to do anything. I’m going to relax and heal and read and do some drawing, knit and watch a whole lot of TV. (For starters, I plan to watch Outlander from the beginning.)

I’m not going to worry about blog posts or social media or anything along those lines—unless I want to. Which may or may not happen. I will most likely return to writing newsletters post haste, but don’t expect anything from me next Sunday. That will be four days post-surgery, so nope, nada. (Yes, I could easily set a newsletter up, as I did when I was in France, but for some reason that doesn’t feel right. If I’m taking time off, I need to really take time off.)

It will be interesting to see how this works out for me. I’m not good at taking time off, so we will see how long my grand plans last! But I truly do want to use this time to ponder and be open to new ideas, to think about where I want to put my precious time and energy from here on out.

I’ll end with a quote I just found in my journal: writing is my companion and I have a hard time letting it go. So at the very least, I will likely be journaling throughout these days to come! But we shall see.