obstacles and inspiration

so, this past week was full of obstacles to writing.

I find lack of time due to my day job (publishing, which is a joy, but busy) and stress to be the biggest obstacles to my personal writing time. I laugh hysterically, in fact, when people say I went into publishing so I could put my writing first. I write 75% less now than when I worked at a library and could leave my job at the office.

Stress is big, too, though. Someone broke into my car last week and stole all of the electronics, creating expensive havoc. This? Gives me stress. Especially since they did it in broad daylight *IN MY YARD*. Then someone hacked a paypal button, stealing money that goes to a gay charity, essentially.

Nice.

A life of crime must be way easier than writing.

So I decided that I need to revisit my inspiration. Travel. Cowboys. Cowboy hats on dashboards. I love the ching ching sound at the beginning of a fiddle riff. I love Tim McGraw. I love Venice at sunset, when all of the buildings are reflected in the water, and everything is quieting down a little. I love steak and pizza and a good, hard workout. I like a man in Wranglers, hot and sweaty and a little wild. I love the mountains in the summer and fall, when Texas is just too hot.

So what are your obstacles and inspirations?