Today’s been one of those days.
You know the type. You wake up, actually looking forward to the day. You have a plan, you’re ready to go, and then—everything falls apart. Technology doesn’t work. Clients and co-workers have decided that you’re the person to air all their grievances to.
To top it off, you can’t finish that one task because five more demands on your time keep cropping up. And they have to be taken care of before you can go back to that one thing you can’t forget to do before calling it quits for the night.
You glance at the clock, realize the coffee you made this morning is sitting cold and unfinished on your desk, you haven’t had lunch, and dinner time is just around the corner. You still need to go shopping, your house in shambles, your kids are begging for attention, your cat has gotten sick on the carpet, the puppy thought your phone charger was a chew toy, and somehow you need to get some writing time in before you finally shut off the lamp and kiss this terrible, rotten, no good day good-bye.
Maybe you’re not on deadline at the moment (or maybe you are), but either way, you’re just not feeling it today.
It’s days like these where it would be so easy to just call it quits, pull out a pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream, queue up Netflix, and crash out on the couch. Sure, you might feel guilty about it, but that’s what the ice cream is for. To make you forget.
The writer’s life is not for the faint-hearted. It can be grueling and unrelenting at times. As creatives, we long for the days when the muse wakes us up with her passionate love song, when the coffee is hot and flowing, when our calendar is empty, and when the words come effortlessly.
If only those days didn’t come once in a harvest moon.
If this sounds like you, there is hope! I’ve found that most of my best writing comes on my hardest days. I also feel the most accomplished on the days I sit myself down at the keyboard when I least feel like writing. Even if I only managed to write another hundred words.
I find I’m more honest on the hard days. My writing, regardless of the genre or topic, is more transparent and less guarded. The words I produce on my hard days also tend to be the ones that others relate to the most. I think there is genuine strength when we write out of our weakness. It’s then that the Master Creator’s clearest message is able to shine through.
Let’s be honest. No one begins their writing journey dreaming it will be filled with one impossible day after another, but what we do with the hard days is what ultimately separates the amateur and the writer. An amateur treats her art like a pastime. Something to be done only when she feels like it or when time easily allows. A true creative continues on—even if only in a limited manner—when life tries to pull her away.
So if today’s been one of those days for you, or weeks or months, don’t give up! If nothing else, write about what’s been so hard lately. The beauty of writing is that it reflects our shared experiences and reminds us that we have more in common than we often think. Whatever you’re facing in life, there’s someone else who knows where you’re coming from. Writing about it today will help you connect with that someone tomorrow.
Hang in there!
Add a few drops of your own: 
What encouraging suggestions would you offer a fellow writer who is struggling to find the right words and the time to pen them? Share your words of refreshment in the comment section below.