November 23, 2004
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What is it about writing? It can drive me crazy, not knowing how, but I feel sure it is the source of my content.
I gave up for tonight and went to make some tea. Sitting in my $25 recliner I bought off the porch of a struggling law student, I closed my eyes and went through my worries. Some I couldn’t even face, yet I took another sip of tea and smiled to myself. I am happy.
There’s no other explanation. My daughter’s in deep shit, I don’t even know how deep. I can’t even tell my ex-husband about it. I promised. Not that he’d be any help.
Then there’s Thanksgiving and my mother. Nobody’s coming on Thanksgiving, most of them have other places to go. So I am having my family over on Friday and if my children decide they can deal, then maybe they’ll drop by.
My brother called last night and said he and my mother had gotten into it about the living trust. She is refusing to discuss it. She won’t let us speak to her doctor. She says she’s fine. We’re having a meeting before she gets here, to decide what our course of action will be. There are four of us and we vote.
An article is due tomorrow and I have no idea what I’m writing about.
Then there’s the dog shit I just found over by the piano. My puppy is refusing the idea of being housebroken. There’s piss everywhere. I carry around a spray bottle and wash cloth all day. I have easily trained three dogs prior to her. I don’t get it.
I have moved to a place where there’s absolutely no hope of meeting a man. I looked around when I first got over here. I was still dating someone at the time, someone I really just wanted to be friends with, and I took a good look at the men: at Starbucks, the grocery store, a couple bars, the river, everywhere. And for some reason now, I’m fine with that.
What is it about writing that makes you so — I don’t know, it’s a new feeling. It’s a feeling of calm.
Comments (8)
I am sorry to hear about your problems. But glad that you are feeling happy in spite of that. Writing helps you in many ways.
Writing about things makes them clearer to you. Sometimes we can get soo overburdened with life, that we want to just give up( as if it is possible). Writing at such times is the place like an island. You can get away from it all, even if it is only for a short time. That short break gives energy, a new perspective, a fresh mind to go back to that same old life, to the possibility of living that life in a new way.
off-topic… writing around an image or theme gives you ways of expressing the same idea different ways… for example in my latest story, i use a sled and it stands first for a sled ride which stands for intimacy which later stands for faithfulness, but my characters don’t discuss it’s meanings and implications, those are for the reader to discover on his/her own. by exploring new images to express an idea, you avoid some of the chit/chat you don’t like and are less clique…sometimes… sometimes the images are forced and don’t work- then you have to rewrite… i think you should look for a writer’s group if you’re serious about this- they will be a great way to learn the craft (as well as meet ppl). i am in the process of doing the same here bc my on-line group is too busy lately… but the only way to get good at writing…is to write, bad stuff, good stuff, just stuff… every day!
Writing is a cheap therapy.
I enjoy how you write about stuff. It’s comfy. Sounds like your family is just as dysfunctional as mine. My son and daughter had a fight last Thanksgiving and they haven’t mended yet, so she’s not coming. I’m going to his house where I’ll get to see my grandchildren too and pray not to overeat. I made a living trust in case you have any questions I can help with. I’m a cat person, but I heard they have some kind of papers you can put down on the floor that puppies learn to pee on. Don’t know what they’re called for sure but PetSmart or one of those places surely would. Tried match sites online yet? Many good ones.
Writing is like tension release…if you can put word to paper (or into bits & bytes as the case may be) it makes the stress more tangible and thus more apt to be able to get rid of.
Happy TurkeyDay.
I am in a place where there is a very limited no. of men. Last week I got asked out to the island’s best restaurant, I declined. This week (by someone else) I got asked out for lunch yesterday or today. So I haven’t returned his calls. No one has asked me out in months. My behaviour is so self-defeating and I dont know why. I am not all right with it. Writing it makes it worse, I feel v. stupid.
29,000! That’s fabulous, a lot of words, really, really, and I know it’s been a struggle sometimes. Me – I’d tend to put what’s going on right into the NaNo & rewrite it later. So I’d partially fictionalize my daughter, partly fantasize, and make it all happen in a slightly or largely different setting, trusting that it would ultimately fit into the novel as a whole. You’ll write like the wind is at your door if you write about the current concerns of your life, I suspect. I’d love to respond to this post – maybe in December! (Sigh) ((Hugs))
IRT maybe in December
I know. Someone, I think it was Lionne, asked about food evoking memories and I thought, don’t even get me started. I could write 50,000 about food. But comments, these days, I cut short