Holiday....from what?

Today is technically a holiday. In America, that usually means sleeping in and eating large amounts of deliciously unhealthy food. And above all else, not working. Yes, I have a day job - which gave me today off. So I indulged in a three day weekend with friends, surrounded by snow covered trees on the edge of a frozen lake. We played board games, watched the snow fall and yes, ate a ton of food (I can't begin to tell you how good the lobster mac and cheese was!).

And yet, there I sat on Saturday afternoon, in front of my laptop. Everyone else was off snowboarding, but I stayed back at the house to delve back into my work in progress. Surrounded by breathtaking vistas of snowy woods, I kept my eyes glued to the screen and dutifully typed descriptions of sunny Caribbean skies (my heroine is on a cruise ship, and wearing many fewer layers than I currently am). It was hard, and it most definitely work. And on a holiday, I'm supposed to avoid anything resembling work.

There's the rub. I do regard writing as a job - I take it very seriously, with deadlines and contracts - even though it doesn't provide the health insurance and paid holidays of my day job. But, more to the point, it is also a passion and a joy. So while all my friends happily turned their thoughts to anything but work this weekend, I took time out from the frolicking and fun to turn back to my work. And I don't regret it for a moment. Holidays are for indulging in things you enjoy...so I happily raced my fingers over the keyboard and reveled in...a day of work.