The reward of a job well done -- From Mary Anna

It's back-to-school time and, though it's been a long time since I was in grade school, I still get a feeling a renewal at this season. I love the smell of fresh-sharpened pencils and a newly opened box of crayons. I love the sense of starting anew. I love the annual ebb and flow that is denied to adults who work year-round jobs. I think that we're wired to need the sense that a job has been done well, giving us the twin rewards of resting and then starting something exciting and new.

I've been lucky in my choice of work. I am not on such a regular schedule that it is always the same time of year when I finish a book and take a fallow period to prepare for the next. My life has been such that there has always been some other stressor to soak up that fallow period that I had looked toward while writing each book, but still the feel of ebb and flow was there. If you don't get that from your work, maybe it would be interesting to look at your hobbies and see if you can find one there. Taking music lessons as an adult that require preparation for an end-of-the-year concert would be a possibility. Or training for a swim meet or a bike race that has a definite date to push toward. You know what you like to do. I like to write books.

Or, if all else fails, go buy yourself a big box of crayons, open the lid, and take a sniff.

Comments

[Camille Minichino]

I love the seasons of school, too, Mary Anna. And I have to admit those crayons look (almost) as good as chocolate!

[Ann]

I love the "seasonal" rhythm of the school year as well! For me (in my memories), that season starts in September... although these days, kids are going back to school starting mid-August!
And I love the smell of crayons. And old-fashioned paste, the white stuff that comes in a big jar. :-)

[Hannah Jayne]

Well said, Mary Anna! I'm a fall-fan myself. To this day (nearly 20 years after my last class), I still consider September the beginning of the year and June the end. I always indulge in fresh new notebooks and school supplies, telling myself that I'm just taking advantage of the good prices... ;)