Yin and Yang

First, thank you to all of you who posted such lovely thoughts to Baby Girl. She appreciated it very much. You are a wonderful little group of bloggers and writers.

And now . . . I'm searching for a little peace. Not world peace. Though that I would like. But inner peace.

You see . . . I don't know if you think parenting four kids, writing full-time etc. is paradise. My guess is my Demon Baby stories have definitely acted as a form of birth control for many a person. But I do love my life. However, there's been some BIG STRESS in the House of Orloff lately. Oddly enough, the events have knit my kids even closer to me, so maybe there really is that silver lining. But . . . we as a family have had our share of difficult times lately. So much so that I, as Mom, feel as if two ten-ton blocks of granite have been placed on me--one on my shoulders. The other sitting in my stomach.

But today I woke up . . . and realized . . . it was a writing day. And sometimes, well, it's a battleground. Sometimes writing is just banging my head against a desk, going "What the hell am I doing with this SCENE?!?!?!?!?!" But sometimes? I realized writing is like my secret treehouse. A place I get to go to escape. For some peace. In an imaginary world I can control. And on those days? I can't tell you how grateful I am to be a writer.

But there . . . re-reading what I wrote? It's yin and yang isn't it? A refuge . . . and sometimes the very thing that drives me nuts.

So tell me--is there a yin and yang to your writing life?