Last week was unseasonably warm and I spent a good deal of time working on doing interior work for a new shed that will double as an office space for my lady. That meant that I had a hard time prioritizing the writing assignments that needed done.

Now it is the start of another week and it’s snowing, so there is nothing holding me back from getting to work. This is the way of things for me. If there is work to be done that requires my time, I put it ahead of the things that will actually pay me. That work which doesn’t pay me in money seems to fulfill some deeper need of mine, and it feels effortless and joyous. I know it is because I am providing value to someone I love, but I do need to be able to provide for myself too, and that takes paid work.

On the days where I am engrossed in tasks that require the use of my hands, the time absolutely blows by and I have none of what it takes to create. It is a very all-or-nothing proposition and I continue to wrestle with how to best balance this.