From the time my kids were little, summer was the time to
recharge. A scheduled ebb to the flow of new creativity. The end of August was
the time to grease the wheels and test the gears before turning the engine on
in fall.
This rhythm hasn’t failed me yet, but there is always that
twinge of anxiety as to whether my vehicle’s engine will in fact turn on.
The other day, while feeling particularly twingy, I thought
about a couple we know. They married in their thirties and by the time they got
down to having children, pregnancy just wasn’t happening. It was not for lack
of trying, they say. When they were just about resigned to starting complicated
medical regiments in the hope for a baby (while preparing mentally to remain
childless, as adoptions are not an easy route for the over-forty) the woman
became pregnant.
The joy!
And this one daughter was followed by three more children less
than two years apart. In their late forties, they found themselves the parents
of four healthy, lovely children, and no extraordinary medical intervention needed.
I thought how this is what all creativity is like. We plan,
we try, and sometimes we feel arid and dry. Then the gates open and the river
rolls in.
Intentional pacing is the part we do. Without it, the river
has no groove to flow into. Writers call it butt-in-chair. But some humility is
needed, as there is a mysterious part that comes when it comes.
