{"id":220,"date":"2015-10-20T00:10:56","date_gmt":"2015-10-20T00:10:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/normasueoneil.com\/?p=220"},"modified":"2025-12-31T15:25:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T22:25:27","slug":"plan-c-make-lemonade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/normasueoneil.com\/?p=220","title":{"rendered":"Plan C: Make Lemonade"},"content":{"rendered":"

Plan C: Make Lemonade<\/h3>\n

\u201cC\u201d for Creativity.<\/strong>
Creativity isn\u2019t just for making art projects. Creativity is for making life better<\/a>\u2014no matter your circumstances.<\/p>\n

As a child, I always wanted to be a mother when I grew up. That was Plan A. Several influences shaped that desire. My religious beliefs played a large role, as did my upbringing\u2014my own mother was a homemaker who raised eight children. I loved growing up in a big family. The idea of a traditional career never really appealed to me, and for a long time, I didn\u2019t imagine another path.<\/p>\n

That vision didn\u2019t change much as I got older, though my interests broadened and my understanding of what a \u201ccareer\u201d could be slowly expanded. After I married, I was fully prepared to put my education on hold for what I believed to be a higher and nobler calling: motherhood. But life didn\u2019t unfold the way my husband and I had planned.<\/p>\n

So I moved on to Plan B. I continued my education. I told the Lord in prayer that I was willing to quit school if motherhood came\u2014but perhaps He wanted me to finish my degree first. A few years later, I graduated. I told the Lord I was ready now. Still, no children came.<\/p>\n

\n

When There Is No Plan C<\/h3>\n

As I struggled to understand why my heart\u2019s deepest desire was being denied, I began asking difficult questions: What did God want me to do instead? What did I<\/em> want to do with my life? That was when I realized something painful\u2014I hadn\u2019t prepared a contingency. I had no Plan C. The possibility that Plan A might never happen was something I had never allowed myself to consider.<\/p>\n

Practical thinking said, get a job<\/em>. But I already had two part-time ones: teaching positions and a handful of private art students. I was using my fine art degree, technically. The deeper issue was that I had always viewed work as temporary\u2014something that would exist alongside<\/em> motherhood, not instead of it.<\/p>\n

Facing the reality of Plan C after graduation was emotionally devastating. I hid that struggle from most of the people in my life, which only deepened my isolation.<\/p>\n

\n

Creativity as Survival<\/h3>\n

What ultimately rescued me from despair was a quiet but powerful realization: I had been given an opportunity.<\/p>\n

Instead of focusing on everything I could not change, I needed to focus on what I could<\/em> do. There were many things my friends with small children couldn\u2019t easily pursue. I had time, energy, and creative training. I had majored in fine art\u2014entirely impractical, I know\u2014so now I would have to get creative with<\/em> my creativity.<\/p>\n

Rather than dwelling on what I didn\u2019t have, I started asking myself a new question: What else do I want?<\/em> What were the dreams I had always deferred to \u201csomeday\u201d?<\/p>\n

Publishing a book<\/a> was one of them.<\/p>\n

So, in need of a Plan C, I decided to find out whether this might be someday<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n

Making Lemonade<\/h3>\n

Life is rarely what we expect it to be. But there are always possibilities that can bring joy. As Maria says in The Sound of Music<\/em>, \u201cWhen the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window.\u201d<\/p>\n

God does not always give us what we want\u2014even when the desire is righteous. But He has given us a portion of His creative power<\/a>. Sometimes that means learning to reimagine our lives when circumstances refuse to bend.<\/p>\n

Our greatest disappointments may turn out to be unexpected opportunities\u2014paths we never would have chosen, but ones that shape us nonetheless.<\/p>\n

Instead of being a mother, I have two dogs, a Bachelor\u2019s degree in fine art, and I am writing a novel. I never would have planned my life this way, but I am happy. And the next time life hands me lemons, I already have a recipe for lemonade.<\/p>\n

The key is creativity.<\/p>\n

How have you made lemonade out of life\u2019s lemons? I\u2019d love to hear your story in the comments.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
see what grew from plan c<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A personal reflection on creativity, loss, and finding purpose when life doesn\u2019t follow the plan\u2014and how writing became my unexpected Plan C.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":559,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-creativity","category-personal-muse-ings","without-featured-image"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6v7yg-3y","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":636,"url":"https:\/\/normasueoneil.com\/?p=636","url_meta":{"origin":220,"position":0},"title":"Creativity: Motherhood vs. Art","author":"normasue","date":"July 10, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A reflection on creativity, art, and motherhood\u2014and why two of the most powerful creative callings are too often undervalued.","rel":"","context":"In "Creativity"","block_context":{"text":"Creativity","link":"https:\/\/normasueoneil.com\/?cat=40"},"img":{"alt_text":"Watercolor Painting","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/normasueoneil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/unicorns.jpg?fit=1200%2C820&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/normasueoneil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/unicorns.jpg?fit=1200%2C820&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/normasueoneil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/unicorns.jpg?fit=1200%2C820&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/normasueoneil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/unicorns.jpg?fit=1200%2C820&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/normasueoneil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/unicorns.jpg?fit=1200%2C820&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":522,"url":"https:\/\/normasueoneil.com\/?p=522","url_meta":{"origin":220,"position":1},"title":"Luxury Is Not Bought \u2014 It Is Created","author":"normasue","date":"September 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Luxury isn\u2019t about what you buy\u2014it\u2019s about how you live. 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