“Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.”
Gustav Flaubert
Recently I went baking crazy. Not that that is unusual for me because I am constantly in the kitchen. I have read prolific writers say that either you are a good housekeeper or you’re a great writer, but not both. Which, I get, because boy is it a lot of work to keep a house clean and put meals on the table. And I, personally, cannot live among clutter and chaos. But it is also a lot of work and time to be a writer.
So, does my clean house and baking remind me I am not a good writer? Not necessarily. But the sad truth is unless we are already independently wealthy, and unless we have no responsibilities, our time to write is limited. We cannot sit at our writing desk from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. writing ten thousand words a day, every day. Most of us understand, I think, that the few precious minutes we have to set aside time for writing (or any art), we use to the full.
Back to the baking. I do my own cooking and meal prep because, unlike responses from editors and publishers, I have control over what we eat, and we try to eat healthy. However, I have a nagging sweet tooth, and I learned long ago that yes, you can make healthy Paleo scones and Keto chocolate chip cookies that actually taste great without the nasty sugar and carbs. The old pasty meals of health are long gone.
On Thursday, I baked cinnamon coffee cake muffins with a crumb topping (a tiny bit of maple sugar for the topping, but otherwise no added sugar (I substitute Monk Fruit in most recipes that call for coconut or maple sugar)). Friday I made a lemon berry paleo bunt cake which did not stick to the pan thanks to my slathering of ghee. On Saturday I made lemon raspberry scones and chunky monkey scones.
And in case you’re wondering, no, my husband and I do not eat all of this in one sitting. They end up in my freezer and last for several weeks and maintain their freshness. We take out what we need that morning for our coffee break and leave the rest alone.
Which is why when I opened my freezer this morning and laid my eyes upon the bags of goodies taking up space (including the other half of the bunt cake for another time, as well as chocolate chip banana muffins and cinnamon raisin banana muffins from a couple weeks earlier), I realized I do not have to bake for at least a month. Yes!
My writing is sometimes like my baking. When I carve scheduled time to write, I take it seriously. I focus on the task, make sure my creative brain is all in, and push aside distractions such as checking my email or social media. I even have to fight the feeling that I am behind on, well, everything (except baking!) and just enjoy my time.
When you write, or paint, or garden, or build something, you are an artist. After you complete your artistic project, don’t you step back and smile and breathe in a sense of accomplishment? What a great feeling.
Whether your freezer is full of healthy goodies, or your latest novel is getting closer to the end, or your essay or story is in edit mode, you should savor the fact that you are accomplishing something worthwhile.
And if your house is also clean, then you should really pat yourself on the back!
(If you’re in a hurry but still want healthy Paleo recipes for meals, this is the main site and doctor I follow: Dr. Kellyann, and no annoying pop-up ads.)
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