Wednesday's Word: Priorities

The past few weeks of my life have been more than hectic. With the upcoming release of my first novel, Promises, I have been busy trying to get my ducks in a row with the printing and promotion of my book. On top of that, my sixteen-year-old daughter, Danielle, has had mono and has basically had to be home schooled. But even more than her educational needs, my daughter has needed my emotional support. She suffers depression and has an anxiety disorder that has been exacerbated by this bout with mono. I've had to put my writing almost on hold. My PR efforts have taken a back seat. It's okay. My daughter is, and should be, my first priority.

But I know, deep down inside, that if I take care of life's highest priorities first, everything else I need to do will somehow fit it and life will carry on just fine. It's like trying to fill a jar with rocks. If I put the largest ones in first, then the next largest, and the next, etc., until all I have left is the sand-size priorities, they will fit into the jar better than if I were to put the sand in first. The key here is where I place my writing as a priority.

Are books your first priority, or are people? How does your choice in this matter affect you?

To an author,
working on their books
would appear the most important task of all.
But in reality,
when compared to relationships
the import of books is really rather small.
People
outweigh by far
the value of a story upon white pages.
Not to mention,
a story would be nothing
without the spice of human relationships
formed throughout the ages.