It has been at least a week since I have written anything substantial. I have all of the excuses: my son was married at our home, I am marathon training, family members were sick and in need of special attention, and on and on. It is summer. I am a teacher. Full stop. Yes I journal each day, but those entries lately have been short, with not much substance, merely a place where I can attempt to balance all of the activities, spiritual, physical, and relational, that I wish to include in my days. Yet I know that I want to pursue writing in a more formal way. I have a half completed memoir and the outline for a historical novel which needs major attention paid to research. When I daydream about becoming a more successful version of myself, I think about holding my first published memoir, and I dream about calling my husband to tell him the good news. So how to formulate goals from daydreams? For me it is simple, engage in a daily writing practice, put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, and just write. I ran across this article by Jasmine Guillory titled: I Can’t Be a Writer If I Don’t Write Everyday. She wrote about her habit of spending time everyday with her craft, that she handles the paralysis and negative thoughts by just spending time writing at least something. She wrote: “The only way I broke this cycle of anxious thoughts and creative paralysis was to remind myself that writing is a practice, just like so many other things in life. I didn’t want my writing muscle to atrophy.” Like my own physical practice of running, and my spiritual practice of meditating each day, I have to spend time on my craft, despite the daily challenges of life happening. I know that by writing regularly I become a better writer. I just have to look back at older pieces to see the growth. By flexing my writing muscles each day I am given the possibility of my daydreams becoming reality. Just for today I am willing to lift the weight. Tomorrow?