Writing from Home: It Can Be Great and Not-So-Great for Mothers

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I went to school to be a teacher. In fact, I have a B.S. in Education, not journalism.

Due
to the hours and holidays, teaching is traditionally thought to be the
best work for a mother who wants to keep one foot in the mommy-door and
one foot in the career-door. This thought, paired with my love for
children and learning, led me to life inside the schoolhouse doors.

Soon
though, writing, not teaching, became my real "full time job," and it's
been years since I set foot behind a teacher's podium.

There
are times I miss teaching and regret I haven't used my diploma more,
but who am I kidding? -- freelance writing has to be the best situation
for a stay-at-home mother: I get paid, I do something I love, and I
don't leave the kids. What's more? I can stay in my pajamas all morning!

Sometimes
people ask if the lack of structure and absence of a physical "office"
bother me and make it hard to concentrate. Sure, I get sidetracked
watching a great episode of Rolie Polie Olie with my son every now and
then, and I take long, leisurely breaks to chat on the phone or go to
lunch, but this isn't because I "work at home," it's because I'm an
artist.

I only write when inspired and when it "feels
right." Even if I sat behind a desk all day, I'd still piddle around
and get distracted -- it's my nature to jump from project-to-project,
then zero-in on a particular piece when the mood strikes me. This is
the artist in me. Just as a painter cannot be told, "Paint, now!" a
writer cannot sit in front of a blank screen and expect great things to
flow.

My best pieces, in fact, are written while I do
such things as stand in line at the grocery store and wait at a red
light, or during a commercial break from Oprah.

As I'm
sure any artist can relate, I usually get a "feeling" when I have a
great story brewing in my mind. This is, I think, the blessing and
curse of creativity, because sometimes that "feeling" comes in the
middle of a dinner party or at two o'clock in the morning and I have to
race to find paper and jot my thoughts down. My husband has grown
accustomed to me running in the door, heading straight to the computer
and yelling as I go, "Can't talk....got a story on my mind....need to
get it on paper!"

So, while I love this profession for its
adaptability with the children and being a mother, sometimes the
unpredictable nature of my creativity poses a few problems. For
instance, if inspiration causes me to stay up until 3 a.m. writing a
great column, I'm little use to my high-energy children a few hours
later when they get up at the crack-of-dawn.

Yes, I have
the luxury of lounging in my pajamas and not going to an "office," but
I struggle with the spontaneous nature of this business and the chaotic
schedule it sometimes poses for my children and me.

I
guess though, even if things were different and my life was more
structured, I'd still be a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of
girl...that's just the life of an artist.

About the Author

++You may reprint the above column on your website so long as the following is included the URL address is actively hyperlinked back++

THIS MUST BE INCLUDED: Copyright 2004 Sarah Smiley http://www.SarahSmiley.com - Sarah Smiley's syndicated column Shore Duty appears weekly in newspapers across the country.

sarah@sarahsmiley.com

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