Yesterday, a dear friend of mine confided that she was struggling to focus on her writing and publishing due to some major life changes. Ironically, these changes were implemented as a way to focus more on her writing and publishing. As my wise friend noted, “change is never neat.”

I’m a little envious of her, to be honest. She is packing up and moving from a big city to a small town all the way across the country. It’s the kind of small town you read about in stories or maybe hear about in country songs. Small, simple, quiet, surrounded by woods.

Kind of like a permanent writer’s retreat.

Because my friend is so diligent and hard-working, she feels like she is failing by not writing during this process of change, which includes purchasing one house, selling another, and making arrangements to move 3,000 miles away.

What I told her is this: “There is no way I could even think about writing if I were in your shoes. I’d just get through the move and pick a date on the calendar when I could begin again. And then I’d look forward to that day, dream about it, and let it carry me through the weeks between.

“I do that in summer. Sometimes I’m able to write, but other times I just say, you know what, instead of splitting myself in two I’m giving myself 100% over to my family, and when the kids return to school, on that day, I get to write again.”

I admitted I’d been struggling too, with none other than this blog. Since June I’d managed one post a month, practically a record for me, and I hated to break my streak but couldn’t seem to nail down my February post. Why is this so difficult? I rarely get stuck writing fiction or essays, but blogging just doesn’t come naturally to me.

My friend responded in kind with her own guidance: she suggested I write a few paragraphs about a certain friend’s life situation, how it was getting in the way of writing, and the comforting words of advice I’d offered her.

She even gave me a title for the post: When Life Gets in the Way.

I told you she was wise.