Taking a Breather

Normally when I post I focus on the act of writing itself. I don't talk about anything else partially to limit the focus of my blog and partially because I hope that people who read this blog get to know me through my posts and my writing itself. Whatever the case may be I think that I need a break from tradition. I'm sitting in the same room where I finished the first draft of Guardians and where I wrote a large chunk of my research papers last year. Thinking about it, my body gets a visceral reaction: my stomach clenches, my chest tightens, and I can feel my breath getting shallower. I'm not here to write about my stress level though. As any college student knows, school is hard work, every assignment seems to come all at once, but everything always gets done. And I think this message, rather than any physical manifestations of stress, is the point of my post. 
More than the assurance that things will get done, I want to remind everyone that whatever we're doing, no matter how stressful, there is a point to it. As a person who is drawn to the Humanities my classes naturally have many papers that somehow seem to all be due at once. The thing is, as tough as it is to continually knock out five page papers, when I go back to reread them I remember that I actually like what I'm learning about. I chose to come to school for a reason: to do what I love. 
Writing creatively takes the same mentality in some ways as writing a paper does. It can be stressful, full of self-doubt, and nerve-wracking, but in the end it always gets done. More importantly however, I love to write fiction, even more than I enjoy finding that perfect quote or creating connections between two texts (I'm an English nerd I know). Yes sometimes things can get tough but in the end I love what I'm doing and I need to remember that every day.
As school goes into the final push and we enter finals I think that we all need to remember that we're working hard at whatever we're doing for a reason. There is an ultimate goal be it an outstanding education, a job in your desired field, or even to be able to one day see your books on the shelf of a bookstore. The point is that even though complaining is natural, pervasive, and even part of the college experience, it's not the end goal. We're here to achieve whatever our personal end goal is and eventually we will.
P.S. I have been doing some writing, check out the Guardians section for the newest excerpt!