True Bliss

How do you define true bliss?

I guess it would depend on who you were asking. For a friend of mine who is a swimmer, bliss could be defined as a dip in the warm waters of the Mediterranean. For a foodie, it could be eating at the most famous restaurant in the land. For a nature lover it would possibly be a night in a forest, sleeping in a hammock/cocoon.

We all have different ideas about what bliss truly looks like and even then, those definitions change as we age and as our conditions change.

For me, as a writer, bliss is writing frequently AND enjoying it. Let me explain.

I just finished a novel that I started probably around October of last year. For some, that’s not a long time but for me, that feels like an eternity. The worst part is that because it dragged for so long I lost the passion, the excitement I normally feel when I sit at my laptop to write. It became a chore.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great story and I love it. I adore the characters and I believe I have a solid plot line (that turned into a possible series) with all the excitement that makes danmei such a beloved genre mixed with the romance and world building that will appeal to fantasy lovers.

But every time I sat down to write it, I was paralyzed. By what, I’m not sure. Fear I was writing crap? Possibly. Self-doubt about my writing skills? Almost certainly. Pandemic and family stress side effect? Absolutely.

The good news is, I have finished it and it turned out–despite all my worst fears–amazing (I did have to tweak it a bit to get rid of some odd inconsistencies). I’m very proud of it and excited to share it with the world sometime in the near future.

Even better news is that I am now writing a story (that was not even a seed in my brain) which is flowing easily and beautifully. It has brought my bliss back. This one was inspired by a cover I bought on a whim from an artist I love, Adriatica. And so far it’s been a pleasure to write. The characters are developing smoothly, the world-building is making me smile (a lot), and the plot is very promising (even though as a pantser I have a pretty fuzzy concept of what it might be, lol).

So, moral of the story is, don’t despair. Like my yoga teacher often says, everything passes, nothing is permanent. So if you are, like I was, going through a stage where whatever makes you happy is no longer doing it for you, stick with it. It will eventually come back. And if it doesn’t, there are a million other things to discover. One (or many) will surely bring back your bliss.

What makes you happy? Would love to hear from you.