FOCUS

Focus is one of my favorite words. I played tennis today with a new partner, and she kept saying, "Stay focused. Stay focused." This was after we lost the first set 0-6.

Stay focused. Fifteen years of marriage takes focus. Raising kids takes focus--can I hear the Amen chorus? Writing takes focus. In fact, every single step of a writer's life takes focus.

My partner and I switched sides, with me playing forehand just to give our opponents--who were better than us, actually--a different look. We won the second set--with my partner hissing Stay Focused at me, and me repeating it back like a mantra--and then we won the tiebreak.

"What was the difference?" my partner asked. "I think we focused better the second set. Nice comeback."

Focus means writing every day. It means making a promise that the work comes first. The imagination is a garden which needs watering and attention.

St. Augustine said--and I paraphrase--that on a day in which you do not pray, you should not eat. Now that's a real focus.

Focus. Food for the writer's soul.

Currently listening to : Venus and Serena William's reality show while I type, and Anastacia
Currently reading: Too much stuff to list
Currently cooking: Starbucks cocoa was dinner--no cooking!
Current rave: Coppertone continuous spray 30 spf sunscreen. No washing the hands, no sticking sand at the beach, no yuck on the racket! Easy!
Word of The Day: FRIENDS

P.S. Many thanks to everyone who bid on my books at the auction in May. My books--two sets--sold for $150.o0 each. I'm grateful for the support and that the Jefferson wild boys are loved. ALSO, thank you for your support of Bandera. I hope you love Crockett as much!

And in case you're wondering about the pic at the top--that's my 16-year-old in the back of the raft, focusing on not falling out in a rapids in Tennessee. My dad and brother are in front of her on the left side. They look like they're having a great time living life--and my nearly ninety-year-old grandmother complained bitterly that she got left behind. It's all about the focus, whatever we choose to do.