MARY LAMPHERE AUTHOR

Obviously not everyone got the “Not Now, it’s NaNo” memo. Including me.

Barring things I had already committed to… Book Club, In Print, Prompt Club, Bunco, a lunch date, a dental appointment, a surprise party, and those annual November things like birthdays and Thanksgiving, I had vowed to just say no.

“I won’t volunteer, I won’t commit to a new project, I won’t do any favors, I won’t make plans outside of writing. Sorry.”

That’s what I said.

And yet, why of course I’ll make your copies and buy your supplies and attend your function and meet for lunch and run that errand and send that email and … and… and…

I do not commit to bad things. I do not commit to anything I don’t really want to do, but the point of Not Now, it’s NaNo was to not commit at all!

I seem to have a problem.

The fact that I am a full-time professional volunteer has come up several times lately.
My flexible schedule and immense talent make me the go-to for too many. I’m tired, folks. And I’m not getting done the things I want to get done.

I need to attend a PVA meeting. What? Professional Volunteers Anonymous doesn’t exist?
I’ll start one!

See? Problem.

It’s time to retire. Pretire? Take a breath, take a break, say Okay, but only a little bit.

Maybe in 2016?
Happy “NO” Year?