Finding the Joy on the Gloomy Days by Dorothy Courtis

 Is January really only 31 days long? Was Christmas really only one month ago? It feels ages... and not simply because the weather has been horrid, but because I hit a roadblock in the Work-in-Progress, aided and abetted by days-off that derailed my routine.

I enjoy routine. I've managed to write the last six or so books on a routine of one hour every morning, five days a week. But what with Christmas and New Year (I'm a Scot, so Hogmanay and New Year are significant festivals for me!), my routine slid. And like an avalanche in the Swiss Alps, one little slip was the beginning of a hurtling descent into nothingness. No hour at the desk.

And no hour at the desk means no writing. And for me, no writing means no joy. 

I grumbled at the snow. I muttered even more balefully at the days of endless rain (when the water butt overflowed onto my patio requiring venturings out in wellies to deal with it - and buckets...)

And then inevitably the larder was bare and I had to leave my burrow and go out in the rain to the local supermarket and stock up. Where I encountered a lady at the trolley bay and we got talking (about the weather - we are Brits!) and somehow, one of us mentioned snowdrops. Yes, we'd both seen the first of the snowdrops - and suddenly we were smiling.

And that's the trick, I reckon. When you're writer's-blocked, or just stuck, or miserable, reach out for that one tiny thing that will give you joy.

I treated myself to the latest Julia Cameron book: The Daily Artist's Way: creative living everyday: 366 insights, meditations and guidance for the year. I needed something fresh to add to my morning devotions so that was my treat. And a new notebook for my Morning Pages.

A never-fail input of joy for the writer, a new notebook is a thing of beauty... and hope. And at this time of year, every splash of joy and every teaspoon is hope is much-needed blessing!

Dorothy Courtis has published Christian devotionals, historical and crime novels under her pen name, Dorothy Stewart. She lives in Suffolk and is a lay preacher in a group of six churches on the borders of Suffolk and Norfolk.