Everyone knows that procrastination is not a good thing. Most of us learned that early on when we put off homework to go outside and play, only to be up late at night, quite cranky, as a math problem or history essay refused to be resolved. “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today” was a quote on several teachers' cork boards. The concept being that you have no idea what tomorrow could bring; therefore, you should be as prepared as you can be for it. Get that project done before the deadline so the night before you can accept the date from your current crush, pay those bills before they’re due so there’s no chance of interest or delinquency, and empty the litter box in case your mother-in-law comes by for a surprise visit.
Of course the other side can argue that you might get hit by a bus tomorrow and won’t you feel stupid for wasting your last day on earth doing laundry? What if your crush is at the bar right now, how will he even get to ask you out if you’re at home finishing a project that isn’t due for another two weeks? Take the chance, live a little, and enjoy right now because, once again, you don’t know what tomorrow will bring. Maybe you’ll have the winning lottery ticket and you can quit your job and not have to worry about that stressful project after all.
Until recently, I’ve never had a problem with which side of the argument I was on with the day to day managing of my life, but recently I’m not sure which side I’m on, least wise which is best.
With writing, I’ve always thought that it was the spontaneity and the adrenaline that got the creative juices flowing and I thought a self-imposed deadline or a goal of a chapter a week might weaken the result. I’ve never been short on inspiration and I’ve never fallen so far behind that I’ve lost the spirit of what I was working on; therefore, forcing myself to sit and write, write anything, seemed that I was just putting words on a page to create quantity and nothing more. Of course, the quality of a piece will usually come within editing and the first draft is only the raw material with which to work with. You can’t begin to sculpt your work as you’d want until all the material is on the page. Plus, I’ve noticed that a deadline, plan or goal can help the creative spirit to focus and not wander off with a sudden need to hear that one song that will be perfect for the scene on the soundtrack of the movie based on your novel that you haven’t finished writing yet. And while staring out the window can open your mind to ideas it does not create actual words on the page. And words, as every writer knows, is what you need most. Without the words, images, mood and story can’t be understood outside your own mind. After all, writing is nothing less than the map of your dream.
With Celiac Disease though, I thought the only way to handle my restrictions were to have a planned out lifestyle. The strict guidelines of my life now are there for my benefit and, literally, my health. Every meal for the day and perhaps the next is known. Every trip out of the house, whether to work or a vacation across the country, revolves around where I will eat lunch or dinner. Everywhere I go I carry a gluten-free snack with my keys and phone. I’m tethered, restricted and confined. Even within my own home, there is an OCD-like necessity to clean, contain and not cross-contaminate. The spontaneity and the creativity of the everyday are gone. But does it have to be that way?
Just as writing can be structured into a plan, can’t living gluten free be, well, more free? As more restaurants add gluten-free menus (Thank you Melting Pot!), more coffee shops and convenience stores carry gluten free snacks (Hello Lucy's cookies and Two Moms in the Raw granola) and more companies label their products with easy to decipher packaging (I love you Trader Joe's), the restrictive lines do not fade but they do get further apart. There's more room now to maneuver. As Celiac Awareness spreads life could get a bit less planned and bit more lived. Of course it will never be completely without restrictions, but perhaps things are brought into better focus that way.
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