Cutting Corners

Image by Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I recently attended a writing conference, and received some wonderful advice from philosophy professor and children’s book author Claudia Mills. I laughed when I heard it, but now it has become my mantra. It goes like this: “The key is cutting corners and having very low expectations.”

Mills was talking specifically to writers about making time for our craft, but I think her advice extends beyond the audience she was addressing. Everyone has an inner desire to be creative; to bring ideas, interests, and talents to life. We want to wrestle with that something important inside of us, give light to it and make it lasting. So what prevents us? Usually it’s time. For me it was.

I started writing my first novel when I was expecting my first baby. That baby is now seven, and the day I sat at the conference, I still hadn’t finished my book. I was beginning to seriously doubt myself, until I heard Mills speak. She had a very practical solution for dealing with the constraints of time. First, she promised that an hour a day is all we need. Second, she said we should “win with our strengths and don’t mess with the weaknesses.” In other words, simplify.

I decided to give it a try. For starters, I’m not much of a cook. I have a few recipes I can prepare pretty well, but when I branch out from those, the likelihood of success is low. So I stopped bothering with recipes that took too much of my time. I’ve also stopped baking for social events and group dinners I attend. Instead, I go see what’s new at my friend’s fabulous bakery. I appreciate her strengths, and let them be my weaknesses.

I’ve also cut corners with my housework. I keep things organized and tidy, but dishes sometimes stay overnight. The floor doesn’t get mopped as often. My new, low expectations don’t let those things bother me. Why should they? In the three months since the conference, I have finished my novel. I don’t know who is more pleased with my accomplishment, me, my husband, or my children.

Now I’m working on my second novel. It is hard work, but fulfilling and rejuvenating. The price is a simple one: just an hour a day, and lots of cut corners.

Originally published online at Store and Style: Live Simply. Design Well.

QUESTION:  Are there “corners” you can cut in order to accomplish something important as a Mom?

CHALLENGE: Find ways to simplify your life in order to focus on what’s really important.

About Janessa Ransom

Janessa Ransom grew up along the banks of the Boise River. At eighteen she left for a view of the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts. While studying English literature she met her husband, and then stayed in Massachusetts to start her family. Now she resides in Utah, alongside the appropriately named Dry Creek. She is the mother of four children, and spends her non-mothering time reading, writing, biking, and sewing. Visit her blog at Gallery of Portraits.