Summertime…and the Livin’ is Easy

Summertime and the livin’ is easy, but I sure feel like the creatin’ isn’t. True, life is definitely easier than it was two years ago, and most certainly easier for me than for many others. Case in point: my cousin and I are at our annual writing attack. She left to go to Albuquerque for a few hours. Some forty-five minutes later she was back. The road had been shut down because of a terrible accident not five miles from where we are. Multiple emergency vehicles lined the road. A helicopter was on its way. Someone’s day had been ruined, at the very least. So I, sitting here writing this, have no similar worries, and for that am immensely grateful.

summertime photograph of a northern New Mexico mesa with bright clouds in a blue sky, easy livin'? — *What on earth is difficult about this?*

Nevertheless…

Nevertheless, this past year hasn’t been particularly easy for me from a writing standpoint. I’m not one of those people who sits down and just starts writing. I’m also definitely not the kind of writer who feels like I absolutely have to write, like there’s some burning need inside of me that isn’t fulfilled if I don’t do it. I have a lot of interests aside from writing and recently I’ve thought it might be more my thing just to do . . . something else. And would that be so wrong?

If it’s Good Enough for Judy Blume

In a recent interview, 2026 Santa Fe International Literary Festival guest of honor Judy Blume stated that she’s done writing. When asked about it, Blume said, “No, I don’t write–50-something years was enough. I’m happy not writing. I’m so glad I did it because it changed my life and it gave me a wonderful career. Everything about it was perfect, but then I didn’t want to do it anymore, so now I have a bookstore and I love that.” (Adele Oliveira, “Judy Blume is Forever: The acclaimed author on book bans, bookstores, and putting down her keyboard,” 2026 Santa Fe International Literary Festival Official Guide) The guide doesn’t seem to be available online but she made similar comments here.

I was shocked…momentarily. Then I thought about it. Her last book came out in 2015. I remember going to a book signing event of hers in Santa Fe for that book, In the Unlikely Event. I was lucky enough to get a signature and a photo with her. But that was still eleven years ago, not that anyone’s counting.

Times change, and hopefully we as people change, too. Who wants to remain static as they move through life? I think Blume stated it very succinctly and well. Writing was great but then she didn’t want to do it anymore. Simple. If it’s good enough for Judy Blume. . . .

Permission to Continue

So this past month while I’ve struggled to write, I realized that it’s okay to give myself permission to continue writing . . . or discontinue. Maybe it’s just a combination of factors that have led to this general feeling of blahness. There’s the heat. One day in early June it was such a relief (and I believe the only time it’s ever happened) to go to a school where there was a/c. The heat that week wasn’t the worst I’d ever experienced in Torino, but it was bad. Not the worst of the three heatwaves so far this summer in Italy, but still. Heat, being unable to exercise outdoors because of it, lots of things on my mind. It all adds up.

However, I’m not at the same point as Judy Blume, for, oh, so many reasons! The main one is that I do still want to write. Then I thought: maybe I should reread my own blog post on how to rerail a derail, because this is kind of a mini-derail. In that post, a couple of the things I mentioned, aside from being grateful, were: downsizing, escaping, and laughing.

Downsizing

Downsizing expectations is a good way to jumpstart things. We’ve all heard it before: can’t write the whole draft? Write a paragraph. Can’t get a paragraph out? Write a sentence. When all else fails: write one word. In my case, having some lofty goals for our writing attack tends to stress me out. Yes, it’s large blocks of time to work on whatever I want. But that can be just as stressful (and tiring) as having no time. Instead of trying to write a bunch of words, revise previous stories I’ve written, and get them submitted in the space of a few days (probably not very realistic), I decided to focus on a few website maintenance tasks that I’d neglected.

First was adding my Instagram account to my social media menu. Seems like it should be a no-brainer, but it took some time. It’s hard to remember how to update certain things and often WordPress isn’t straightforward (to me). Then I realized I hadn’t updated my Off the Shelf page and was actually behind by seven books! An easy fix, but still time-consuming. Yet something small and concrete I could take care of. Finally, I had been remiss in updating my Doorstoppers page. That, too, is fairly easy but it still takes some finagling. Little by little, though, I could feel myself getting back into a rhythm, which also made me want to keep going.

Escaping and Laughing = Easy

Escaping and laughing are fun, easy ways to recharge your batteries. As I mentioned in my most recent newsletter, in between writing sessions we’ve been watching My Name is Earl. It’s so funny! And it’s also an example of extremely good writing, in my opinion. Some of the things the writers came up with are really incredible. We’re on a writing attack, not a writing punishment, so it’s important to have some fun.

So what makes us keep writing? In my case, I do enjoy blogging. I like having the goal of writing something once a month. As should be obvious, sometimes it’s not easy coming up with a topic month after month. I think it’s good to be disciplined and it keeps me up on certain tech things, at least in a minimal way (it takes more work than you might think to keep a website up and running). I also do always hope for some reader interaction, because that’s the best part. So, for now, I’m not going to Blume it.

Is There Anybody Listening?

Is there anybody listening? Reading? Maybe yes, maybe no. I mean, I hope so, but if not, I know I can always count on at least one listener (reader): me. When all is said and done, that’s the starting and ending point, although I certainly do hope someone else is out there. In honor of a band I’ll be seeing in the very near future, I’m including this beautiful song by Queensrÿche, a group that’s gone through its own permutations and, no doubt, soul searching in the decades since they got together. Some of the members have Blumed it, others not. Either way, I’ll be listening.

How about you? What do you do when you struggle to keep doing something you enjoy? How do you decide if it’s time to let an activity or goal go? Let me know in the comments below.

Pulling at Threads is my occasional newsletter. It always accompanies my blog posts. If you want more of an “insider’s” view on what’s happening in my reading and writing life (or just to get notified of the latest post), you can sign up here.