Ahhh!

That sigh of relief felt around the world last Monday was me meeting one of my deadlines and getting my all day workshop behind me. For the first time in about three months my pulse slowed down from a gallop to a mere trot level and my blood pressure went down about 15 points (my doctor will be so happy!). I had made it; I had crossed two finish lines and had only one to go. And the thing is, having only one deadline now feels like a cakewalk.

I find it incredibly galling or fascinating, depending on my mood, that during this time of the highest professional stress in my entire working life, my family got hit with mini-crisis after mini-crisis, from health issues to academic set backs to major life decisions, they all came tumbling down at the same time I was trying to juggle all these deadlines. And boy, was that a perfect illustration of plot layers! A perfect demonstration of how our lives don’t stop when we are presented with a huge new challenge.

It also made me grateful that I am a writer, because I could recognize a Supreme Ordeal when I saw it and act accordingly. But mostly, it's just a wonderful thing to be on the other side of some of those things!