by Blythe Daniel @BlytheDaniel

Have you noticed it? Have you seen the shuffle to the side when more than one person is in the same space? We don’t really even get to ask, “How are you”?  

I see a lot of masks but not a lot of smiles. I see a lot of masks but I can’t see through to the sad and frustrated expressions. The stories that are happening and yet to be written.

As we wear our masks in many places we pass through, what’s really underneath how we look to others? How are we holding up all the pieces before the LEGO towers of our life come crashing down?

It can seem like if we aren’t producing a certain amount in a day, we aren’t doing our part to keep up and get to our goals. Missing some days of writing or responding to emails or checking social media can swallow you up until you don’t even feel like coming to the computer because of overwhelm. It’s actually easier to put on your mask and walk into a store where no one really sees who you are or how you are..

But, if I were to ask you, as I ask myself, how are you, writer, really? What would you say?

Are you burned out, exhausted, feeling so far behind you wonder if you’ll catch up? Where do you go in these thoughts? Do you control your thoughts or do they control you?

I know I’m not the only one that feels this way. The demands of being in a career in publishing with diverse changes, zigzagging between wife and mom, trying to decide about what to feed a family (takeout, again?) and a schedule, and how well are we connecting as a family? You too?

Here’s a new rhythm I’m learning to practice. The things can wait. People know your true heart. You haven’t fallen in a hole, though it feels like it. 

We may not feel like we’re productive in this moment or the next. But the moment is filled with more than tasks. Conversations and connections between you and friends and family. Priceless. Emails can wait. Books won’t get up and walk away from you. We will see what we want to see again in our efficiency. But let’s move to honesty with how we’re doing. Do you need time to rest so that you can regain creativity? It’s okay, we all do.  

Then, what new story would you write if you could? Is your writing changing or making room for what you are feeling in this season?

How are you leaning on your fellow writers to support you in this season? Is anyone asking you what you feel like writing? Are you writing what you love or what you have to?  

Writers are our community. Writers don’t just show but tell others what they are thinking and feeling. Are you intentionally putting yourself in community with those you can be honest with? 

We might be tempted to think that we’re the only ones struggling to come up with the words we want to say, much less write. But when we lead the way, we’ll see others join in. A lead-in question but then an intentional conversation can change another’s outlook as it can our own.

A few questions I’ll leave you with:

• Do you have others around you that you can share with how you really are?
• What do you need to put aside for this season and what do you need to pick up?
• Can you reach out to three writer friends today and ask them what they are working on and how they are right now?

Perhaps we also need to clarify what we want to work on and what we don’t want to work on. Let the expectations take a hike. Let being with your people and God bring you the most joy and life.

So, are you ready to lose what you’re hiding behind, share your shortcomings, and start a new season by being more focused on what’s really behind you and your writing?  

Let’s not simply fill a mask or a spot with a solemn gaze. But openly stand and declare what Psalm 40:2-3 offers: “He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.”

Blythe Daniel is a literary agent and marketer and has been in publishing for over 20 years. She has written for Proverbs 31 Ministries, Focus on the Family, Ann Voskamp, and Christian Retailing. She and her mother Dr. Helen McIntosh are the authors of Mended: Restoring the Hearts of Mothers and Daughters (Harvest House Publishers).

www.theblythedanielagency.com; www.ourmendedhearts.com