I am writing my Slices on Monday nights these days, to free up a bit of time on Tuesday mornings for reading and exercise. If you can call it reading and exercise; just a few pages read each day from self-improvement material, and moving my body in some fashion for fifteen minutes, trying not to sweat too much in my pajamas.
I have been sitting at my computer for twenty-five minutes, trying on three different ideas and scrapping them all. Not enough details in a memory for one; another isn't really my story to tell; and yet another is wearisome to write--literally wearisome, as I pondered a treatise on just how tired I am these days.
I am missing creative time. I've had crocheting on my to-do list for months, and yet haven't managed to hook a row since before the holidays. Paint and canvases sit untouched; materials are gathered for a Mod Podge project, gathering dust. I haven't even been singing much, as allergies, library lessons, and read-alouds have left my throat subject to a tickle, leading to a cough. (Yes, I've been tested for you-know-what.) I did complete a curly-headed woman for a bulletin board, but that was more mindless twirling of construction paper around a pencil than outright creativity.
Since exhaustion seems to be the cause of this malaise, maybe a good solid weekend in bed might help...if I can do so without feeling guilty about the projects I'm not getting done...
I feel listlessness is the brain's way of getting rest. Don't be worried... eat, sleep, repeat and you will be back to being creative again. Looking forward to your next. Take care.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Shruti! We have an unexpected two days off, so I'm hoping to do just that. Slow days with time to notice may spark some Muse yet...
DeleteChris, I picked up on a theme of malaise in several posts and I must confess that I am battling it also. Due in part to this long stretch of year, I believe. I feel like "tired" settles in my brain like snow and seeps down into my bones. It is winter - we need rest and retreat (right, Katherine May??)! But you WROTE. What you described is so similar to what I have been experiencing too, when the writing just doesn't want to come - it occurs to me that an analogy might be going to the doctor and being handed a cup to produce a specimen and ... nope. Maybe the answer is a glass of water!! Maybe the Muse is thirsty! :)
ReplyDeleteOh, my, the giggle evoked by the specimen cup! The analogy is apt. I think you're right in saying the Muse is thirsty. While there is plenty to bemoan that I could write about right now, I choose not to...and then am left to find something new and bright, both qualities of which are lacking in my life right now. I'm thinking I need to do something with my hands, maybe finish a crocheting project, or paint, or putter...hoping the kinesthetics work their way up to my brain to spark some wordy ideas.
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