Hi my name is Cheryl and I’m a writer . . .  who’s not writing.   In unison,  Hi Cheryl.   Writer’s Who Aren’t Writing is a very serious health risk for terminally creative people.   I didn’t realize how serious until I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism last December.    Of course, Writer’s Who Aren’t Writing isn’t really a disease but unfortunately Hypothyroidism is.    And suddenly my inability to “get on with my life and back to the things I love” started to make sense.  

Immediately, a disclaimer must be made about the title of my blog.   Though I am a most definitely a writer, published in mass market fiction,  I am neither whole nor healthy.   And even when I was writing full-time and my personal life had yet to be full of  chronically ill relatives and high maintenance pets, I was not healthy or whole.   I wonder how many writers who are actively pursuing publication or are already published and determined to stay so, are actually balanced and healthy?  You don’t have to attend too many RWA meetings to glean that it’s a tough business. 

For the sake of  what’s left of my sanity and thyroid, I have to find a way to do all three.   Call it a quest, adventure or journey but I have to get my life in balance.   Hanging with writers has been my life line over the last turbulent five years.  With my throat chakra in jeopardy, it’s time for me to  speak up and share what I’ve learned and what I still don’t know.

When I say whole, I mean balanced.  Last spring, when I was struggling to finish a manuscript I’d been working on in bits and pieces over the years, I looked up to find my husband standing over me.  I glared and gave a huff.   He said that I’m not very nice when I’m writing.   Unfortunately that was often true.   So somehow I have to find a way to cook healthy meals, oh  did I mention I’m also going gluten-free, while not becoming irritated with the basic needs of  my mixed-species family.   And I want to be a nice person.