Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. I’ll be seeing my mom later on. When I thought about the approaching holiday, I realized that tradition was not for me. I’ve been cooped up writing, cooped up with flu, and the last thing I wanted was to be cooped up in a crowded restaurant while everybody in the world went out for brunch at the same time. So I told my husband I wanted to go geocaching.

Not being overly tradition-bound himself, he downloaded Geobeagle for the G1 and nabbed the information for several nearby caches, and off we went with kids in tow to go treasure hunting. (Geocaching is a great family activity; what kid doesn’t want to treasure hunt? Or play with a GPS?)

I solemnly declare this the best Mother’s Day ever, and it’s proof that sometimes you have to make your own new traditions. Experiment.

Experimentation and not being bound by tradition is useful for writing, too. I have some pieces that I have decided I like enough to finish…but not as they started out. My voice has evolved, and I want to experiment on them. Not unlike geocaching, I have some direction and hints, but it’s a trip of discovery and there’s no pressure on the results. If they don’t lead to something interesting, nobody else ever has to see them. But I want to try a different approach that builds on my strengths as an intuitive/character writer and also incorporates the kind of plotting I like to read and write.

I think it’ll be fun. Meanwhile, I’m not waiting an hour for a table in a restaurant and there are more geocache points to hit. Enjoy your day, whether you follow a tradition or invent your own.