Get High on the Highs

Writing is a volatile profession. Some days are awesome: you finish a book, you master a difficult scene, you get a call that your book finalled in a contest, you see your book posted on Amazon for the first time... the list goes on and on. There are so many amazing moments! Like getting your cover flats in the mail and realizing you absolutely adore your cover! Like today! I got my cover flats for my May paranormal romance from Warner in the mail and I'm soooo excited!!!! I danced around the room and stared in awe at it for twenty minutes before I remembered to pat my dogs. It was a writing high.

But as I was enjoying the moment, I remembered how insanely stressed I'd been only a few weeks ago as deadline pressure crushed me. I remembered how bummed out I'd gotten earlier in the year when the teen line I wrote for shut down. I recalled those bouts of insecurity where I convince myself my book is horrible and I'll never be able to salvage it.

And then I remembered my husband's words of advice: "Don't get so high on the highs, and don't get so low on the lows."

Well, I disagree with the first part. I think we should allow ourselves to get high on the highs. Let's get even higher! Let's embrace every last good thing we can think of, and celebrate it!

But definitely, I agree with the second part. What's the point in letting those low moments get us down? Why do we let the bad things take away the joy we have in the things that are going well in our lives? Even on my worst day, when it feels like everything is falling apart, there's always something good going on. The question is whether I take time to notice it, and to appreciate it, and to let the positive vibes of that good thing flow over me. Instead, I often find myself dwelling on whatever is going wrong and allowing that to overshadow the things that are going well.

Today, I got my cover and I love it. I'm going to bask in that greatness and not let anything take away the excitement of this amazing moment, not even the fact that.... wait a sec! I'm not going to even think of those depressing things! What's the point? To take away my happiness? Fergeddaboutit! I'm staying positive and I'm going to enjoy this moment!!!!!

So, without further ado, here is my new cover!! And now I'm off to write, and I'm going to be smiling every step of the way. So there!

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posted by Stephanie Rowe @ 5:55 PM