If You Love It, Time Will Come

People sometimes ask me how I find time to keep a journal, write a novel and keep a blog. Part of that is simple: I AM on maternity leave, so I have more flexible hours than someone who works full time. But I found time to do all of those things while I was working, too; the only difference is that my novel-writing progressed more slowly. One of the reasons I wanted to extend my maternity leave (besides, of course, being with my beautiful boy) was so I could keep doing those things. I am afraid of what will happen when I have to return to teaching and still be a hands-on mother. I am afraid that my writing time will vanish. So I keep reminding myself of this little mantra:

"If you love it, time will come."

It's not a perfect quote (making it like the Field of Dreams quote caused it to lose a little of its meaning), but it works for a quick reminder. It means that if you really love to do something, you will find the time. The passion that you feel will make it unacceptable for you not to do the thing you love, and you will figure out how to make it work. 

Yes, we all have responsibilities that sometimes require us to do things we don't enjoy for long stretches of time. Most of us have jobs that we aren't truly passionate about, but they pay the bills and support our families, so we do them. The happiest people are those who can make money doing what they love. But for those of us who aren't in that situation, or at least aren't there yet, remember that it's good to nurture your passions even if you don't know how much time you can devote to them. Everyone can find time to do something every day that they're passionate about. Even if what you love is travel, you can read a travel blog or look at cruise prices online. You can daydream. You can let your heart burn with desire for exotic places.

So even when I do go back to teaching, and my days are crammed full of score study, instrument repair and re-scheduling for state tests, and my after-schools are full of Edwin time, I'll still find my few minutes to write. Just as I make time for the people I love every day, I make time for the activities I love too.