I spent most of the month of December setting up my new home insurance office. After a fresh coat of paint and three new telephone lines, I would move thirty years of business into a super efficient home-office. I thought, “This project should take no more than a week.” Boy was I wrong!
My one-week project took an entire month. I misjudged everything. Painting took almost a week, because it had to be done in the evenings and between client appointments. New phone lines required re-wiring the house, and they did not work correctly after at first. Client files were a nightmare. I’m a pack rat and had not culled my files in thirty years. It took three days reviewing client files to fill ten boxes for shredding.
The most difficult activity, though, turned out to be laying new floors. I added slate tiles to the entryway and new hardwood floors in my home office. I spent a week on my knees prepping and laying the new floor with help from my lovely wife. Here is the finished product:
I have always looked to real life for writing inspiration. Laying floors provided wonderful motivation for writing. My knees hurt. Splinters throbbed in several fingers. Sawdust covered everything in the downstairs. All I could think was how wonderful it would be to get back to writing. So, if you ever find yourself wanting for writing-motivation, spend a week doing some physical job like painting your house or laying tile. In fact, here’s a standing offer. If you struggle with writing motivation, you can drop by my place and install new tile in my kitchen. I'll be happy to help you appreciate writing . . . from your knees. Oh crap, that doesn't sound right. Well, you get the idea. LOL
