Tunnel Vision

    Does anyone else struggle with balancing the depths of writing with "life-ing"? 

    When writing, I find that I dig myself into rabbit holes with tunnels beneath the surface of my life, rarely surfacing. When I dig my way back up, the sunlit landscape feels like another world. 

    I'm attending a conference soon, where I'll be pitching my manuscript to a few agents. Yes, I am nervous, excited, and all things in between. I booked the agent meetings back in December, you know, when I felt my manuscript only needed a few final rounds of edits. Thankfully, I've worked with a wonderful editor who helped me to see that larger scale revisions were required. 

    The conference deadline has been both stressful and helpful. The perfectionist in me is limited to a certain number of boxes on my calendar, but within those squares I need to pull off something that sparkles

    No pressure.

       I still have work to do, but as of today I've dug myself back to the surface, waiting for some feedback that will arrive in the next 48 hours. Then, the tunneling resumes until after the conference.  

    While at the surface, I'm working hard at a workout reset so that I'm back in a regular pattern of exercise, making meals for my family, and some much-needed cleaning. 

    Writing is solitary work (unless you count the time spent with characters on the page). I find it challenging to toggle between the literary world and the physical one. I'm working on it though, and hoping to find a better semblance of work-life balance...with fewer stretches of time within the depths of  writing tunnels.