Sleep v. Writing

It is an eternal battle in my life. Most days I have to decide whether to get enough sleep or to write. I put my toddler down for her nap and it starts. I sit at my computer, catching up on my email and gearing up to blog, write an article or work on another writing project. I try to ignore my heavy lids and the yawns that well in the back of my throat.

Some days, I give in. I crawl into my bed -- the bed that coaxes and beckons seductively from the room down the hall from my home office -- and take a nap. Other days, I continue to fight, hoping the things I write when I'd rather be sleeping will be worthwhile.

Of course, on the days I do nap, I invariably stay up late working. That, in turn makes me tired by the next afternoon and I crave a nap. The irony of that pattern does not escape me, but I seem helpless to do anything about it. When I have the time and the muse strikes, I need to write.