I'm a big fan of small amounts of writing. I often don't have time to sit down and churn out 1,000 words, and I also don't always want to write fiction. Some days, I want a clear-cut way to exercise my writing muscle in 10 minutes or less. I also want a clear-cut way to help myself feel better at the end of a long day of teaching. 

Below is a little writing ritual (it takes about 10 minutes all-told) that I try to find time for most evenings. You can answer these questions for yourself, or, if you're creating a character for a piece of fiction, you can put yourself in that character's mindset and answer the questions as them. 

And yet we are so often caught on the riptide of our lives, moving forward because we must move somewhere, and even if we live longing for the past, we are still stuck in a crescendo of time - for each day is one removed from that remembered golden time. 

You've got it, if you need it. 

Permission to do the comfortable thing. 

Permission to try the things that scare you most. 

Why even dwell on the unhappy stuff? It's not a matter of complaining; it's a matter of taking stock at this particular moment in time. When I write down those 'unhappy' things, I begin to see how fleeting they are -- or, if they're larger sorrows, how they're shaping me into a stronger, more generous, more complete human being.