The Magic of Consistency
Tiny steps transform far-off dreams into down-to-earth realities.
I started writing my book last July.
I don’t even remember how or when I came up with the topic. But at the beginning, that seed of an idea was all I had. I started with a blinking cursor on a blank Google Doc.
I was on vacation in Florida with my family. Every day during Greta’s nap time, I sat outside on the screened-in balcony and typed as much as I could. I ended the trip with almost three entire chapters finished.
…too bad I changed the target audience and focus of the book shortly after I started it and had to basically start from square one.
Then, we moved from Seattle to Colorado and had to figure out new rhythms in our new home. Greta wouldn’t sleep in her bed for naps in her new room, so she slept in my lap in the rocking chair every single day for months. In the pitch-black nursery to the hum of the sound machine, I set my phone to “dark mode” and exhausted my thumbs typing out words and sentences and paragraphs. I typed the introduction and middle chapters right there in the dark.
For the past couple of months, we came up with a new rhythm for my writing. Josiah wakes up with Greta on Sunday mornings and I get to write, uninterrupted, for two to four hours—depending on the morning. It’s a luxury to sit at my desk in daylight in a comfortable position with no interruptions (and to type on my laptop, not my phone).
I’m not a full-time writer—not even close. Those nap-time writing sessions and precious Sunday mornings are all I’ve had.
But even so, as of this week, I am about a chapter away from finishing the first draft of my first self-published book.
I feel like I don’t even deserve to say that. Sometimes, I feel like a nearly-finished book was just handed to me. I keep thanking God for the ease of this whole thing. Compared to the grind and stress of cultivating other dreams in the past, this process has felt like magic.
It almost feels miraculous how these tiny pockets of time—writing a few sentences here, a few paragraphs there—have transformed into a whole book.
The 20-minute pocket of time between my daughter’s bedtime and me and my husband’s evening TV time.
The hour sitting in a pitch-black nursery typing words and sentences and paragraphs on my tiny phone screen until my thumbs and eyeballs were sore.
The spontaneously inspired few paragraphs I scribbled onto scrap paper as my toddler cried, “Mowa cwackews!” (translation: “More crackers!”).
The small pockets of time I often left disappointed, thinking, “Man, I wish I had just a little more time today.”
There wasn’t any big push—no massive goals, no exhausted burnout, no all-nighters, not one eight-hour day. Just consistent work in tiny pockets of everyday life.
I love the subtitle of
’s book, Create Anyway: “The Joy of Pursuing Creativity in the Margins of Motherhood.”We don’t need to wait for the perfect circumstances to go after the things in our hearts. The best work can happen right here—in the margins of everyday life.
In the moment, the margins seem so thin—almost unusable.
Any sane person would ask, “What’s the point?” What can I possibly do in this 10-minute window surrounded by piles of laundry and needy kids? Or by stacks of books and mid-term study guides? Or in my cubicle eating chicken salad on lunch break?
But that’s the magic of consistency.
Consistency turns half-baked ideas and chaotic multitasking and imperfect circumstances and faithful returns to the craft into living, breathing, realized dreams.
Tiny steps, over time, transform into big dreams—just like magic.
Book Progress
Welp, this entire newsletter has been about my book progress, so it feels silly to have a separate section like I normally do.
But just to remind you, when I finish the first draft (hopefully within the next week or two), I’m going to share the topic of the book and more details in a newsletter in early February!🎉
So since we’re only a few weeks away from the topic reveal, I want to know: what do you think the topic of the book is?
I’ve been sharing little clues over the past several months. I’m wondering if I’ve been too obvious or if it’s still a well-kept secret. :)
Five Faves
Death and Other Details — new murder mystery show on Hulu. Gorgeous set design and costumes. Fun, interesting storyline. Only a few episodes out so far, but they’re each an hour long!
This quote from Show Your Work by
about not being “human spam” as an artist/creator. I read this book a year or two ago, but I always open it back up when I need some straightforward creative inspiration/advice.
✨ Mountain chic ✨ I’m embracing a bit of the Colorado style lately, and I like it.
The Lectio 365 prayer app. I’ve mentioned this app before, but I love listening to the 8ish-minute audio version of both the morning and nighttime prayers. To me, the words feel healing and powerful (not shallow or fake). Here’s a snippet from this morning’s prayer:
A quote from today’s morning prayer on the Lectio 365 app. Cute fingerless gloves (I saw one online listing that called them “glittens.” Love that.) A GAMECHANGER for motherhood when I want to be warm, but also need to zip and unzip coats, buckle the car seat, wipe noses, find snacks in my bag, hold up my fingers at the park to say “two more minutes!” etc.
That’s all for today. Keep cultivating your big dreams in all the tiny little ways,
Sarah
P.S. I had a feeling I was nearing my tenth newsletter. I just checked, and this is it! Number 10! Thanks to those of you who’ve been around since newsletter #1 a couple of months ago and for those of you who’ve just joined! I can’t believe 128 people are receiving my words every Tuesday. I am so, so thankful.