Sarah Ruhl on life intruding on writing

I am currently reading 100 Essays I Don’t Have Time to Write: On Umbrellas and Sword Fights, Parades and Dogs, Fire Alarms, Children, and Theater by Sarah Ruhl. I may write a review of it at some point, but to do so now would be unfair since I’ve only read one essay. (Heck, getting through the title took a third of my commute!) However, that first essay includes a paragraph that spoke to me so profoundly that I reread it four times in a row as if meditating.

This quote should be a driving philosophy for all writers who are also parents. In fact, it can apply to any writer who has other obligations beyond the stringing together of words.

From the essay “On Interruptions” by Sarah Ruhl:

I found that life intruding on writing was, in fact, life. And that, tempting as it may be for a writer who is also a parent, one must not think of life as an intrusion. At the end of the day, writing has very little to do with writing, and much to do with life. And life, by definition, is not an intrusion.

Wow. I can’t wait to read the rest of this book.

RELATED POSTS

• Work-life balance is an over simplification
• When is a playwright not a playwright? When she’s a mom. (Sarah Ruhl would probably not approve of this one)

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