When your Chrome extension gives you the life advice you didn't know you needed

Carl Larrson's Studio

Today I opened my browser determined to write a blog post, completely unsure of what to write. I'm in a writing slump...I have to fight to get ideas on the page...rejection in combination with some chronic pain is wearing me down and making me re-examine my life and surroundings with [whatever's the metaphorical opposite of rose]-colored-glasses.

Is writing a waste of my time? Just look at this kitchen--there's a giant patch of tile missing in front of the sink; the cupboards need to be painted; I need Gordon Ramsey to come yell about my lack of decorating skills. And homeschooling...sure, I love it, but it means my kids are home all day pulling out books and creating art projects that I have to hang up somewhere and proudly stationing their new rock and shell collections on my dining room table. Wait, make that my scribbles-at-the-toddler's-spot shabby kitchen table that is way too small for my family that is making do until we can buy or make a real dining room table. I sat down in the old wicker chair by the kitchen window and pulled the laptop onto my lap, thinking these exact words: "Oh, this stupid, broken chair."

And my "Momentum for Chrome" home page (I highly recommend this app, if you use Chrome, by the way) gave me the splash of cold water in my face that I needed:

"If most of us are ashamed by shabby clothes and shoddy furniture,
let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies."
-Albert Einstein

Yep. There are books all over my living room because my children and I have been diving into learning. The scribbles on my table are a sign that art has been created there. And my shoddy wicker chairs deserve a spot on my acknowledgments page if I ever get published, because I wrote virtually the entire first draft of my last book curled up on their faded, torn, stained cushions. 

Carrying on.