Please welcome Jessica Wakefield to our blog today.
I love writing. I love how my characters never leave me alone (mostly I love it); I love thinking about writing, I’m learning to love editing (it’s going to be a long journey) and I love writing a book. I love seeing how the characters grow and change and ow that pushes me to be a better writer.
But 2020 has been hard on all of us. 2020 has delivered so much upheaval, that for me it’s been hard to focus on writing and editing. I know I’m not alone in this feeling. It feels like we’re being tossed around in a boat in a wild storm and there’s nothing to hold on to.
There is: Jesus is the author of life and the one who calms the storm.
We can turn to him when the storms rage and find refuge, peace and strength—even if the storm doesn’t stop raging, we can find hope in him.
Two months ago, we sold my mum’s house—our childhood home. This was a big deal. It is also the only house my mother has lived in in Australia. It’s the last place my sister and I have of memories of our Dad. Forty years of memories, and now someone else lives in it. It is not ours anymore. I cried the entire way home on the last day.
We sold this house in the middle of a pandemic. Our little family of four drove the six hours round trip weekend after weekend until the house was packed up, empty and sold. I have an issue with my back that sometimes hits me for six and I can’t move for a week at a time. Stress, travel and packing up a house was the perfect storm to unleash my back injury. Trying to parent two kids when you can’t get off the lounge without having to plan every step and only being able to stand up for ten minute stretches a time was hard. I cried and watched six seasons of Castle in eight weeks (and yes, that was done in-between going back and forth to my home town).
Two months later, I can finally move freely. I am exercising again, going for walks, and I can pick up my youngest.
What has this got to do with writing? Nothing. Because as much as I’ve been called to write, it is not all that defines me. Packing up my childhood home and being stranded on a lounge for weeks at a time made it clear to me that writing is important, but it is not everything about me. As the memories of growing up surrounded me, I was reminded that I am so much more than words on a page.
I’m a child of God, a wife, a mum, a sister, daughter, aunty and a friend. I’m also someone who loves cooking, taking long walks, hanging out with friends, reading and dancing around the house.
So, when we think of this strange year that 2020 is, let it remind us not of what we haven’t done, but of who are we.
So, who are you when you’re not writing?
You can find Jessica at
Twitter: @jesswakefield83
Facebook: @jesswakefield83
website: www.jessicarwakefield.com
Instagram: jessicarwakefield83
Yes, I am and/or have been soooo much more than a writer; I’m an artist, a mum, a grandmother, a friend, a shoulder to cry on, a cook, horse rider, product demonstrator, telephonist, a deep thinker, singer and so the list goes on. I’ve even been a radio presenter.
I had a chuckle when I read your list…it read like an advert on a Singles Site. Oops, s’pose mine does too.
LOL. It does sound a bit like a singles ad, doesn’t it? I love how we are so much more than we think we are. I think we often put ourselves in boxes and then forget that the box isn’t all we are.
A radio presenter sounds awesome. I’d be too scared to ever do that!
Hi, I love how we are more than we think we are. Radio presenting sounds fun! I couldn’t do that 🙂
Great reflection. God has to continually remind me that it’s not about what I do but who I am 🙂
Hi Susan, it seems God is constantly reminding us about things isn’t he? 🙂
Lovely post, Jessica. 2020 is a year we’ll remember with mixed feelings. I’m just coming out of a long season of not writing because I had to prioritise other things. I love your healthy attitude toward your writing life. 😊