I had writer’s block this week. I had all the excuses lined up. Too busy! Too wired! Too tired! Too many to dos…Then I realized; I’ve been on the runaway train. It clicked. Physically I feel like I have been through some sort of odyssey. Yes a short odyssey, kind of like ripping the Band-Aid off. I thought how can I express the metaphor? {Flash! Light Bulb Moment} Let me write what I see in my mind’s eye…

It started the week before Thanksgiving. This train has been flying down the mountainside at breakneck speed. I think we may have broken the sound barrier a few times in the past few weeks. I tried to stop it. Down the long stretches we flew. Christmas lights flashed as the red and green engine roared through the trees and under mountain passes, we careened over a ravine I’m sure.

I tried to slow the train. I wanted to relax and enjoy the season. Trying to wrest the controls away from the frozen panels, I could only react to the tasks and emergencies we faced. It’s all a blur in my memory. There was no slowing down the path laid before us. We had to take it. There was no slowing this ride.

In the middle of this week I could see it! There it was…a long stretch of flat land ahead. The valley! As we hit the flat land the train began to slow, gravity could no longer pull the beast down. Now the forces of friction did it’s magic to slow the engine to rest. Whew! {wiping the sweat from my brow}

Today I step off the train to my castle door. I run to those protective castle walls to write. A Writer’s Weekend! Ahh, breathe in the freedom. I have most of my weekend to write, edit, and create. I am alone (Hurrah!), or as alone as I get. I get to stop and do what I love. I get to reset my writing habit.

The hustle and bustle, the drama, the highs, the fears, and the triumph, are all great for the kick of the adrenaline surge. The energy makes us feel free. It drives us. We achieve! We feel grand! But life has balance. What goes up must come down.

Here is where I usually crash and burn. I continue the fast pace until I have wiped out all my reserves. This weekend is a little different. I have not depleted all of my reserves. I have finally realized it is time to rest. (I must be growing up) {gasp!} The valley can be a place of stagnation. But the valley is usually where the refreshing waters flow to heal. It’s a place were one can hide, rest and rejuvenate. This year I accept valley as a gift. I will not be forced to rest. In the last year I have found, it is much more enjoyable to rest on my own terms!

Due to my explorations outside the castle walls, I found out that Milly’s Castle is set in a beautiful meadow. In the valley there is a wide shallow slow river flowing behind it, the castle is cool and provides safety, shelter, and healing from the world around me. It is the place in my soul where I connect with my spirit and my Shepherd. It is where “…he leadeth me beside still waters. He restoreth my soul…” (Portion of Psalm 23).

Enjoy the R & R my friends,

Milly