Why I Disappeared...

Hello, dear readers, and welcome back to the Bookshelf Blog! Honestly at this point, I should be welcoming myself back…eheh

You may or may not have noticed that I have missed two posts in a row and have been generally absent from my writing life. I have to admit that I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed recently. In my normal life (because I’m still a young person with non-writing things going on IRL!) we’ve introduced a lot more stuff to my schedule, and I’ve also been dealing with a few mental/anxiety related things. And we’ve traveled recently too, which always throws off my schedule.

Because of all that, I took a step away from writing. I put down my (many) WIPs, closed my blog post document, and took a hiatus from my writing community. With everything going on, I needed time to get myself readjusted to life– without the stress of deadlines and consistency in my writing.

I’m not gonna lie– I feel guilty for being away for so long. For years I’ve always been told I needed to be consistent and not let anything keep me from doing what God has called me to do. I had to keep pushing and keep writing no matter what– because that’s what young writers do, right?

Wrong.

What I didn’t hear (and still struggle to remember) is the people reminding me to take breaks. Rest. Because writing requires a creative mind, and your creativity can be stifled by stress, exhaustion, and burnout. And while I wasn’t necessarily burnt out– I could still make some decent progress in my WIP if I really gave myself the time and energy to do it– I was facing a stressful routine, which is something I’ve always been bad at fixing.

I’m a procrastinator. That means that my free time is most likely spent doing things I want to do, not the things I need to do. With my career as an author, procrastination is one of my biggest enemies– even more than the giant dragon at the end of the story. (Story in general, I mean. There aren’t any giant evil dragons in my stories…yet…) This is something else I have to overcome, but the key that I’ve discovered is overcoming these challenges one at a time.

Perhaps you feel overwhelmed in your own life? Stressed out over the many things you’ve committed to, writing-related or otherwise? You feel like you should have all the time in the world to do them, and yet it runs through your fingers like sand? Or maybe you feel like there isn’t enough time, and never will be?

I see you. And I’m with you.

But something I’ve heard numerous times (I forget who said this, but credit goes to their genius mind) is that nothing worth doing will ever be easy.

I’ll say it again: nothing worth doing will ever be easy. And it’s true.

Think about everything that has gotten you so stressed out. Aren’t all of those things the ones that are most important to you? That have the most impact, the most meaning behind them? They’re all the things we have to do, for ourselves and our families and most importantly, for God.

Nothing worth doing will ever be easy. But God calls us to give our burdens to Him.

Because His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. (Matthew 11: 25-30)

Whatever you’re going through, whatever might be causing stress in your life, I encourage you to take a step back. Think about why it means so much to you. Encourage yourself with the purpose that drives you. And give your burdens to God.

God cares about you so much. He will never put you through anything without a reason. Sometimes we don’t see that reason until much later. Sometimes we never see it at all. But the people around us, and especially God, are there to encourage us and to help shoulder those burdens. Remember that eternity lies ahead, and always strive to hear that awesome word from our Father, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25: 14-30)

I have struggles. And I see your struggles, too. But more important than all of that, God sees your struggles.

And He’s with you through them all.

That’s all from me this week, friends. Take heart, and never stop living for eternity.

See you among the shelves,

Emma G. McKee

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