Small Celebrations
Sometimes (ok maybe most time) life can feel dull and monotonous. Everyday day I homeschool my children. During morning break I spend ninety minutes on the computer, drinking my lukewarm coffee, taking care of book business. That consists of blog posts, keeping up with social media, doing internet research for my latest book, watching online class videos, and if I’m lucky, actually writing. Then its lunch time, afternoon homeschool lessons, more work time on the computer, squeeze in some exercise, do laundry and household chairs, dinner, lesson plan for the next day, then get ready to start all over again. Some days we are lucky and go to a park, field trip, or co-op. Most days are exactly the same as the day before, sprinkled in with music or golf lessons, a bike-riding injury, argument over a video game, or some other loud and sometimes bloody occurrence. The joys of raising two rowdy boys!
The weekends are different, but often not by much. There are still lots of tasks that must be done around the house, yard, and in the book world. Afterall, it’s Saturday morning and I’m writing this blog post. Thankfully we have a hiking trip in the mountains planned soon but that’s the first time we are going away since December. It’s now March, for anyone who is keeping up….Oh wait, actually it’s April. Who can keep track anymore?
When life gets repetitive to the point of wondering if you are living in some kind of Twilight Zone/Groundhog Day remake, you tend to get a little delirious and maybe somewhat desperate for change. Or for a week-long nap. Whichever is easiest.
In January I wrote the first draft of the third book in A Home Called Haven series. In February to mid-March I wrote the first draft of my first YA sci-fi novel. My second children’s picture book will be out next month. These are big things. Yet I have done nothing to celebrate the accomplishments. The end of this school year my oldest will be graduating middle school and my youngest will be graduating elementary school. Yet we have no ceremonies planned. We homeschool, and I’ll be honest, I’m a little slack when it comes to the ending and beginning of a new year. We just kind of roll from one into the next because we homeschool year long, taking about a six-week break in the summer. Graduation ceremonies for a child progressing from elementary to middle to high school always seemed a bit overdone, and more for the parents’ benefit than the child.
Celebrating my own wins has never been something that comes easily to me. Making a fuss because I finished writing the first draft of a book comes across as supercilious. I don’t want to brag or appear vain. Especially because for me it just doesn’t seem like a big deal. I am a perfectionist; harder on myself than anyone else. I always want more, bigger, better, than what I’ve accomplished before. I have this thought that if I do amazing and grand things, I will somehow learn to see myself as worthy. But that’s my ego speaking. I shouldn’t need outside validation to feel like I am successful or good or wanted. But why not allow myself a little celebration for an accomplishment? Even if it is small in the realm of things.
That’s where the idea of small celebrations comes in. This year when we finish up our school year before our shortened summer break I am going to take the boys out for ice cream sundaes. When I finish my first round of edits before sending my manuscript to my editor in May we are all going to go out to dinner. Recently my oldest entered a photography contest. If he wins, we will celebrate however he likes. Even if he doesn’t win, the fact that he took some amazing photos and put himself out there by entering a contest deserves to be celebrated. We don’t have to do anything big. It doesn’t need to be a grand, public gesture. It doesn’t have to be a traditional celebration in any way. We can go to a movie, explore a new park, plant a tree in the yard. Bake a special desert, buy a new book, go biking on some trails. Ordinary things but for special occasions works just fine. We will do it with a celebratory attitude, honoring ourselves and each other for our accomplishments.
Life is unpredictable. There is no guarantee of tomorrow for any of us. I don’t want to waste time any longer waiting for bigger things to happen. Our time here is too short for that. I want to embrace every magic moment with a small celebration. Not only will it offer a break from the monotony, but a deeper connection with the people I love. And that, in my opinion, is what matters most.