Time Crunch

Hello all!

This post is in addition to my

Thursday Balance posts.

This is because,

I know him personally.

He's a great children's poet. 

Love his funny and crazy stuff.

Timely Advice

Toby’s tattered Timex

told terrible time

so why he sold his Seiko

I’ll never know.

But I won’t soon forget

his timely advice,

for he turned to me and said

“Wait a minute.”

More from Ken Slesarik

Most of us lead hectic lives in terms of work, children and other commitments and writers are no exception. When you think of it, that precious commodity of time is the one thing we all are given equally. By that, I mean, we are all only allotted 24 hours in every day and are continually faced with choices as to how we spend it.

When we are younger we speak in terms of “killin’ time” or use expressions such as “I’ve got too much time on my hands.” As we mature, hopefully we gain a realization as to the importance of time and the role it plays in our lives and as such, we learn to prioritize.

That leads me to pose the question: “Can writers find time to write and maintain a sense of balance?” Finding equilibrium can be a chore, even to those with the luxury of being able to write full time. In my own life, I’m certain I’ve not found this elusive balance.

As a teacher, single parent and aspiring children’s poet I find that often an idea or genesis for a poem will come unexpectedly and then any and all balance in my life goes “kaput” as I become obsessed with finding the precise words and cadence. I often can not eat, sleep or work until I figure it out. Can you say sick day? Lucky for me, children's poems are usually short in duration so that sense of completion comes relatively soon! If I wrote for adults, or did mid-grade novels, I suspect I would be much more tired, skinny and/or unemployed.

I certainly do not write everyday, so I lack that balance and best practice. I also work a second job on weekends teaching teens how to drive along with teaching summer school in addition to trying to be a good parent and attend my son’s basketball games. To make matters worse, my muse is often vacationing in Sweden where she remains neutral as to offering up any new ideas or inspiration. That being said, I often have to “Make hay while the sun is shining” and write extensively on vacation days and summer (more unbalance).

Theoretically, I suppose it’s possible to find balance as a writer, but in many cases it’s that hunger and need to write that keeps us unbalanced as our ideas clamor to be put to paper.

So in the end I’ve come to the conclusion that perhaps a balanced life is less common for creative types such as writers.

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Writing poetry for children is my passion. My poems have been used in fundraisers, cookbooks and school functions. I also facilitate a poetry club at Esperanza Elementary School in Phoenix, Arizona and our e-book “Poetry Rocks 2012” is doing very well on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. When not writing or teaching poetry I occasionally perform at coffee shops or bookstores while looking for my niche in children’s poetry. Currently I am writing a humorous collection of desert wildlife poems as well as a collection about Big Foot.