My school year position is over until the fall. I have plans to work this summer, but every time I lose the structure of the school day it takes me a few days, sometimes a couple of weeks, to develop and accept a new routine.

The day after school ended I had a great time reading at the Top Floor, a local music and poetry show hosted by writer and artist Gary Hoare. Eyewitness provided music, and following their set I had the opportunity to open for the incredible Molly Meacham, a poet and teacher from Chicago. It was a fantastic evening and I am so grateful! The next day my family and I traveled to New York for a group reading he was involved in for an anthology called Blanket Stories (Ragged Sky Press) at the Prince St. Gallery in Chelsea. The reading was so much fun, but it was a long weekend and by the time we got home Sunday we both crashed, sitting in front of the TV watching The X-Files on Netflix.

I guess my point is that sometimes wonderful events interfere in our lives, such as the end of a school year or readings, and it takes a little time to figure things out. I’ve been feeling behind every since, but I am slowly grasping my new routine with energy and excitement, and accepting the fact that I have reset my brain in order to continue writing everyday. This year I often used my lunch break at school for writing time. Now I’m spending that time with family, and I need to reserve even more evening time for writing, submitting, and also working with my partner Lea. C. Deschenes on our business, Damfino Press (where pre-orders are now available for our next two books– sorry, had to plug it!). I’m happy that I’ve gotten to the gym three times so far this week. I’m happy that when I get home I can spend time with my family, and I’ll find away to add more time to my evenings in order to keep going with the other love in my life, writing. I hope you can find ways to develop a routine that works for you; it isn’t easy and often we make sacrifices in other areas of our lives in order to make it work.  I’ll have to figure out what to do when I start my summer job, but perhaps if I give myself some lead time before it begins I can settle in.

And just for fun: