This morning as I was kneeling on my bathroom floor, scrubbing the corners of the toilet, (I know - stop the glamor talk, will ya?) the expression, You've made your bed, now lie in it, came to me. The Cultural on-line dictionary says that it is commonly used as a response to people who have been complaining about problems they have brought on themselves. I scrubbed harder. Am I complaining? Okay yes, maybe I am. I don't mind most housework - but bathroom duty I find deplorable. So that's when I fantasize about having a maid. Will I know that I've made it when . . . I can afford to have someone else clean my bathroom? I shook my head. No, that makes success be all about material things - numbers, advances, bookings . . . And we all know what a trap it is for our barometer of success to be material things.
Oftentimes I need to write myself into right thinking . . . so here we go.
We all make our "beds" as we make our choices in life, right? We make thousands of choices a day (at least us writers do - all of those WORDS!) Some we take responsibility for, some we don't. I can get all lofty and talk about how writing has chosen me, and it has, but it's up to me whether I heed that call or not.
I have a beautiful bed, and I LOVE lying in it, cuddling my loved ones in it. I love it even when I have insomnia! I may worry about money and security, but who doesn't? I LOVE being a writer. And if I have to clean my own bathroom, so be it.
Everybody else has to! Especially those in the book business, who are definitely not in it for the steady paycheck!
I'd love to hear what chore sends you all into paroxysms of complaint!
