I Write in The Laundromat

Lately, I find myself going up and down with everything. One day, I'll have it all under control. The next, no so much. When there's so much going on, it's really easy to get overwhelmed.

The overwhelm is not worth it. It's not worth it to wallow in the 'poor me's. There are things I want in life, I need to get there. It doesn't do any good to panic about how far I have to go, or how hard I have to work to get there, or get bogged down in the fear.

I can only give this minute at any given minute. So, yeah, I need to keep my eyes on the prize and do some of my dreaming and planning to figure out what I have to do to get that prize, but really. Really. What I need to do is act. I need to write. I need to paint. I need to take care of my kids. I even need to wash the dishes. I need to DO what I need to do, in that moment. And I need to take all those moments I have and really use them. I don't want to waste any of it.

I just found Ariel Gore's blog and her post on this ,http://arielgore.com/2007/07/i-write-in-laundromat.html was wonderful and just exactly what I needed right now, in this instant.

And so was the poem she shared. Thanks so much Ariel for your writing and insight.



I Write in The Laundromat:

I write in the Laundromat.
I am a woman
and between wash & dry cycles
I write.

I write while the beans soak
and with children's voices in my ear.
I spell out words for scrabble
while I am writing.

I write as I drive to the office
where I type a man's letters
and when he goes to lunch
I write.

When the kids go out the door
on Saturday I write
and while the frozen dinners thaw
I write.

I write on the toilet
and in the bathtub
and when I appear to be talking
I am often writing.

I write in the Laundromat
while the kids soak
with scrabbled ears
and beans in the office
and frozen toilets
and in the car
between wash and dry.
And your words
and my words
and her words and their words
and I am a woman
and I write in the Laundromat.

By Marcy Scheiner