I hope everyone is doing well and safe!
It is time for another IWSG post. Thanks to Alex, we all get to meet once a month and share our insecurities. Please drop by his blog to sign up and JOIN OUR GROUP!
This month, in particular, has all of us living very different lives from a few months ago. Thankfully, I made it back to my home in NW IL. Staying safe at home here is much easier than it was in Orlando. Now living miles away from the Chicago crowds, I feel very safe in my little haven. People here understand the urgency to keep social distancing, YET, we still talk and share our daily lives. One can still social distance and have a comfortable social life. With the lovely warmer weather, I spend much of my time on my front porch. It is wonderful. The stress of the daily headlines still persist, but the anxiety I have felt for the past month has now subsided to a normal level. My advice is to spend as much time outdoors as you can. It is wonderfully therapeutic. My gardens are finally taking shape after hours and weeks of planting and replanting. I have forgotten how time-consuming gardening is, but it relieves so much tension and gets our bodies moving once more. My time in Florida was spent on a couch and watching TV twelve hours a day. Not good.
These trying times have also made my writing almost non-existent. I had done so well for a while, but this pandemic has stifled any creativity in me...until now. If you feel trapped and can't focus on your writing, DON'T feel bad or beat yourself up. Find another creative outlet...I found gardening. Eventually, you will get back to your writing because your stress and anxiety levels created by our troubled times will slowly dissipate.
Once I finish planting the remaining shrubs and trees, I will get back to writing. I actually did start re-reading my current WIP to get back into my story so that I can finally finish it. I also began reading my previous novel. It has been a few years and I decided it was time to start the query process again. This year I had purchased GRAMMERLY... it is a wonderful program to catch those pesky typos and other writing issues. So, I decided to download this work chapter-by-chapter... I was ASTONISHED how many typos it caught...I had five CP's edit it, as well as the twenty-plus times I had read through it. This program is totally worth the investment. I needed this. Try reading you previous works, it's working for me to forget the current situation for a while and write.
Stay well, my friends, and keep your loved ones close. Social media is very helpful in this department. If you feel overwhelmed, take a walk, even if it's just around the block. It will clear your mind.
We all have to try and keep our sense of humor and I am VERY GRATEFUL to all of you posting funny pics and anecdotes on Facebook. They are definitely helping me, and I am sure others, too.
Stay safe. Keep in touch. WE need each other.
Sending you all TONS OF VIRTUAL HUGS!
41 comments:
Glad you made it home.
If you're not writing a lot, no worries - most writers aren't.
I'm glad you're tucked-in safe at home. I bet your yard looks fabulous. ;-)
Anna from elements of emaginette
I love your advice about finding something else to focus on. I've also been really into my garden lately. It's that time of year.
The good weather helps. I went for a walk on some trails in our town today and feel like a new person.
I've found a lot of home improvement projects to focus on these days too. We recently bought 10 acres in the woods; at least its inspiring some thriller/murder concepts, lol.
Glad to see you enjoying life in your new home. I love a front porch view.
Our weather has been poor, but I am looking forward to getting out into the garden. I think it will help.
That's good to hear you're not still stuck in Florida. We've been out side a lot, walking, taking care of the garden, and just enjoying the back porch. Fresh air is good and virus free.
So glad you're finding comfort in your move. We live in a rural area. Thus, our life is less stressful, when it comes to all the changes our country has had to endure during this pandemic. Being able to social distance, but also retain some semblance of a social/active life hasn't been too bad. We literally sit at the end of our driveway and chat with our neighbors, who sit at the ends of theirs. We have it much easier than people living in dense populations. Saying this, I'll be glad when we can all just go about our business. The only thing that's really, really tough is that we haven't seen my mom since the first week of March. She's in a nursing home. :(
Now that the weather is warming, I'm having a new found appreciation for the outdoors. Maybe those outside chores will finally get done, too. Glad you got back to Illy safely. :)
It's so great you made it home. That always helps. Yes, creativity has been stifled, but I think it's coming back around. Mini cheers!
Hi Michael - good to know you're home where you feel more comfortable and are able to get out gardening ... sounds wonderful and will be once the garden is burgeoning. Take care - writing will return ... now's the time to mull and let the mind wander. Stay safe - Hilary
Glad you are safe at home. I'm enjoying being outside and gardening more too.
I'm glad you're where you want to be, Michael. Just imaging you sitting on your porch surveying your kingdom in your lovely neighborhood. All good in my beach town. Takeaway coffee most days. Chatting to people we know. Gorgeous weather. Scarcely any cases of the virus...so far so good. Keep safe!
Hopefully your new gardening activities will add to your new enthusiasm for writing again.
Greetings from Indonesia
Glad you made it home safely. I agree, the writing isn't coming right now. I didn't think I was obsessing over the pandemic, yet find myself eagerly watching the news and Gov. Cuomo's daily briefing. Love that guy, even though he isn't my governor. Ours is "that woman in Michigan." LOL Love her, too. Hang in there. Stay safe.
So glad you're home and safe. Our community is being smart as well. We're a few weeks behind you weather wise - no planting until after 'the 1st full moon in June' here :) We even had an inch or so of snow to deal with this morning. Keep staying safe!!
If there's one thing that is benefiting this lockdown, it's the garden. It's never been so tended to haha...
stay safe.
I think you're right about getting involved in something as a stress reliever. Gardening sounds like a good choice. Heaven knows our yard is in some serious need of attention, so maybe it's time to force my old bones out there to get 'er done. (Or at least started...)
Take care, dude.
I'm glad you've got that haven. I totally agree that the outdoors is so therapeutic. I try to take walks every day and breathe in that fresh air.
Thanks Alex. Me, too!
Thanks Anna ...it's getting there. I am just waiting for the final shipment of my perennials. They come on Monday. But we are having a cold snap now, so I am worried, my newly planted lilacs don't look too happy today.
Great! So happy you are enjoying your walks. Getting out in the fresh air is always therapeutic. Glad I could help.
Congrats Donna! I wish I had ten sprawling acres... only a village lot about 8500 sq. ft. The house and two-car garage take up most of it. lol
Oh, yes... lots of thrilling murder scenes for sure. Lol
It will, Liza. I has certainly done wonders for my stress levels. Take care!
So true, L. Diane! I adore my front porch and I am out there all the time. I have a side porch as well, but it is ready to collapse. Once it gets remodeled, I will be having my morning coffee on it, since it faces east AND it's right of my lovely new kitchen.
We are the same here, Sheri. But some of my neighbors hang out on my front porch which is HUGE. At 28ftx10ft, there is no problem keeping our six feet apart. lol Sorry about not seeing your mom... with Mother's day tomorrow, it has to be hard. Take care.
Thanks, David. Yes, being out in nature is quite therapeutic.
So true...thanks Hillary! You stay safe, too!
Great! Thanks Natalie.
LOL...I am sure there is something you can grow. Just don't forget to water them. Thanks... it is great to be home.
Lol...you know me so well! Actually, it is "Prince Hamlet" who is doing the surveying from one of his favorite perches...my cushioned bench!
I'll send you a pic...
So happy to hear it! We have very small numbers as well. Thank God. Take care and stay safe...
Thanks, Himawan!
Me, too, Diane... Cuomo is a wonderful governor! Since I was born and raised a New Yorker, I feel for the people in the city~ Thankfully, they have him.
Yes, you, too... I know the writing will come back to us both!
Thanks Jemi! Ugh...snow! We did drop down to below freezing.. I covered the new plantings, but a few of my lilacs went into shock. I hope they come out of it.
Thanks ...you, too! So true!
A good idea, Susan... It will do your "old bones" a world of good! You take care, too!
So am I, Lynda. It really is a haven here. I LOVE this old house. For the first time in my life, I feel at home. Even in the homes I grew up in, never felt like home to me. I am an old soul, so I need to be comfy in an old home. My 1915 Craftsman suites me just fine. I just wish it didn't need SO MUCH WORK! lol
Hey, the idea for the book I'm getting ready to publish first sprouted while I was out working in my garden! I'm sure you'll be finishing up Mama Kay soon - and you'll have a pretty garden to overlook while typing away.
I feel so lucky to live close to natural areas where I can go walking and walking. It's been a real mood booster.
I am glad you are home and feeling more hopeful. Gardening is one of my favorite activities. It does help to clear the mind and make feel more at peace. Good luck getting back to your writing. :)
~Jess
Lovely post Michael. I'm a firm believer in alternating creative endeavors. Alas, I haven't done much creative writing the past year but I have been doing other creative things.
This pandemic has created some issues but I agree with you, there are safe ways to still have social interactions. Especially chatting with someone outside and at a distance. :) Done it a few times.
As soon as my lease is up next year, I'm moving to the country. I agree about getting outside. I went to the garden store yesterday to get some bags of soil for my mom's yard. It felt good to get out in the sunshine, even though I had to unload 50-lb bags of composted manure. LOL
Glad you are well. Good luck with your writing.
Glad to hear you're in a good place to stay safe! Having sunshine and a large garden definitely helps -- I'm a black thumb, but my landlady has an amazing vegetable garden and fruit trees! Plus I bought lots of coffee because I heard a rumour there might be a shortage :p
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