The books of my numberless dreams

"It’s almost always difficult for artists in any field (except, perhaps, for a very privileged few) to balance the time needed for creative work with all the other demands of life. The need to manage one’s time and energy may be more extreme and urgent for the chronically ill, yet I know few writers or artists (heck, do I know any?) who don’t wrestle with the details of work/life balance. If it’s not medical issues taking up ones time, it might be children, or elderly relatives, or a day job, or community obligations, or all of these things at once. The sheer busyness of modern life can feel relentless and overwhelming…and that, in turn, conflicts with art’s requirement for time, solitude, and periods of sustained, uninterrupted concentration. I think that even if illness was suddenly, blessedly removed as a factor in my life, I would still be at this same point in my journey: having reached the years of middle age, and recognizing that time is not infinite, I feel compelled to turn inward and focus my time and attention on truly mastering my craft. The social gregariousness of youth is no longer possible, or desirable; there are only so many hours in the day, after all. And yet, the life- and art-sustaining web of connection begun in one’s early years remains important even as one grows older, slower, and more protective of one’s time. That, for me, is where blogging comes in. It maintains that web of connection."