On The Care And Feeding Of Your Author

Writers spend a lot of time talking about books and the process of writing.  It’s what I’ve done here most of the time as well.  But I’ve come to the realization that there is another aspect of being a good writer that tends to be given short shrift.

Caring for ourselves beyond our writing.

Let me say right from the start, I am not a nutrition or fitness expert.  I am a man of “late middle age” with high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, and a stroke to my credit.  I’ve written about that before.  But never in the context of their impact on my creative side.

Caring for ourselves, mentally, physically and spiritually, is of vital importance in my opinion.  All of those things will mean different things to different people, so these posts will be strictly of the YMMV type.  I’ll offer up what I’m doing to “care for my author”.  The stories and ideas may serve as either good examples or bad, but I offer them in hope that they will get you, gentle reader, thinking about your own care.

That includes the things I need to do to keep this old body moving on.  Stories of weight loss, exercise, bicycling, and diabetes.  It includes the things I need to do to keep my brain working.  Those will be stories about exploring the vast fields of story ideas, other creative outlets, and challenging myself to push a little farther than I have before.  And finally, it will have to do with keeping my spirit healthy.  I’ve debated the longest about including this aspect.  For some people, the topic is a hot button.

I am not a “Christian writer”.  I am a writer who happens to be a practicing Christian.  I am a lifelong Episcopalian, and I love my tradition very much.  It has let me down at times, it has held me up at others.  This won’t be me trying to convert you.  Whatever your own spiritual tendency may be, I want to encourage you to live it fully.  I will occasionally share what has moved me, what has made me think and what I think may have value to share.  Same as with any other story.  I hope you’ll give those stories a chance.  If they don’t work for you, skip over them with my blessing.  Same as with any other story, lol!

A shuttered mind, a broken body, or a shattered soul will make our lives as writers harder.  We deserve better.  So we need to care for ourselves.  I hope you will feel free to share what works for you, as the stories move forward.

Update: Just had my 6 month checkup with my PCP.  Most of my numbers were fine, but my weight is an issue (need to drop 20-25 lbs) and my blood glucose has been edging up the last three tests (that covers 20 months).  Losing weight will drop that number as well, so here we go.  The bike got its first workout in months, I’m hitting the gymn, and getting in some walking when I can.

And honestly?  I feel better already.

Peace,

J.D.

(If you’re interested in the stories I wrote about my stroke in 2010 you can find them all HERE)