Three Cheers for Multi-Tasking!

I, like all mothers, have taken this skill to epic proportions. I can talk on the phone, make quadruple batches of spaghetti sauce, wash dishes, and check emails without pause. Never have I gaffed and washed the phone and stirred my dishes. This skill serves me well as I carve writing time from any spare moment that comes my way. 

I have become that low maintenance writer that you see madly typing on the bus; their laptop perched on their knees, ear buds blocking out all sound, swaying in their seat with the ebb and flow of traffic as they make their way to work.

There was a time where I needed silence. Uninterrupted long periods of silence…and my comfy office chair, with the back locked at a perfect 82.75 degree angle…and my coffee, fresh and hot (steaming was best) in my brightly-lit writing nook. Then and only then was I ready to write - as long as the phone didn’t ring and break the magic.

Now my computer is optional and I only need a pen, paper, and a smooth writing surface. Above is a picture of my seat-back tray from my recent flight to Toronto. What a gift; 1½ hours of writing time crammed into a Westjet seat, next to a kid that was more interested in his book than talking to the middle aged lady, who feverishly scrawled page after page of nearly illegible text.

Honestly, this was near bliss. I would have been happy with this alone, but then that tiny voice that cartwheels around my noggin’, suggested this was another prime multi-tasking moment. It was mid afternoon, and I was slightly peckish. I’m sure I've read somewhere, that all the great writers maintain perfect blood sugar levels. If J.K. Rowling would take my call, I’m almost certain she’d agree; low blood sugar hampers the creative juices. 

With firm conviction I took my bliss to a new level. I ordered, without guilt, a large double-double and bigger-than-my-face-size triple chocolate cookie from Tim Horton’s. 

Good-bye bliss, hello Writing Nirvana.