Aurora Kelly

If there’s one children’s activity I have aways detested, it’s a slide puzzle. I solved the puzzle, I know where all the pieces go- what do you mean I now have to carefully plan how to execute every step until it’s all in place? How unfair. And, unfortunately, that’s also how I feel about trying to clean in the apartment I’m currently living in. Almost every task has some insurmountable hurdle, precipitated by one of the many DIYs gone wrong from the previous inhabitants. For example, today was the first time in the year and a half I’ve lived here that I was able to do my dishes in the kitchen sink instead of the bathroom sink. And even now, it isn’t perfect. I’m writing this while I wait for both sides to finally agree that they’ve reached equilibrium and can start to actually drain instead of flowing into one another. (Side note- I think it’s important to mention I’m not paying rent. I pay utilities and occasionally my partner or I have to provide some care to his grandmother who lives downstairs. There’s no lease, and many perks to our situation, even if there are some less than desirable aspects.)

My goal for this weekend was to set up a space for my laptop, having learned in the finishing stages of The Lady and The List that simply holding it in my lap while watching tv amounts to net-zero writing and some missing plot points in whatever show I threw on. Go figure. To clear said space, I needed to clean the kitchen. And that turned into an entire day of If You Give A Mouse A Cookie situations. I often refer to weekends like so: Today is Funday and tomorrow is Sunday. Let me tell you, today was definitely a Sunday.

After nine hours of puttering and muttering, I’m seated at my mostly clear kitchen table. That’s a great start to prioritizing work on The Gossip and The Guest. But now I’m out of time for the weekend again. Normally, I’ve been able to squeeze a session or two in while I’m at work but I’m faced with a scary task some time in February that likely means my focus will be elsewhere for some time.

As a result, taking the time to post anything, on any platform, feels indulgent. That, coupled with my firm belief that growth will be painfully slow, makes it feel like a waste of time, in a sense. I simply must keep reminding myself that writing is writing, no matter the form, and keep chugging along on whatever grabs my attention the best when I can.

My January goal is to be 10,000 words into The Gossip and The Guest by the end of the month. We’re almost halfway through and I think I’ve written 2,000? So, we’ll see, I guess.