Necessary Down Time
Posted on | December 13, 2009 | 2 Comments
How joyous this feels — no deadlines, no fretting about delays in publication, no frantic scurrying to the laptop each morning to tap at the keys before I forget those insights that came in the night.
My latest book is out, the publicity push will start next month, and my mind and body are going on a holiday of sorts! I may not be winging my way out of the country right this minute, but I do plan to recover some equilibrium over the next few weeks of Christmas and New Year’s season.
I wrote to some friends the other night that it was oddly joyous to be putting things away and creating a tidier environment after months of barely noticing my surroundings. Never one to be especially an especially housewifey-tidy-freak, it was actually getting to be a bit worrying when I couldn’t remember what the surface of the coffee table OR the dining table looked like. Those issues and many more shall all be resolved swiftly now that I have some time to do something other than live in writer-and-editor-brain all of the time.
We actually made an appearance at a pair of functions here in the village today — the re-opening of a museum after a large renovation — and the opening session of a new art gallery. People seemed both glad to see me and genuinely surprised and I think that some of our townsfolk have this image of me as a total hermit. Unfortunately there is some validity to that. When I write, my social skills decline to an abysmal level. I have actually found myself dreading going out on a weekend evening because I feared that I would lose the train of thought I had while writing a particular page or paragraph. On my — strange to admit that!
The Christmas plans are sorted (and thank heavens since it is less than 2 weeks away!), the next week is going to be a blur of parties and luncheons (hooray!), and even New Year’s plans have firmed up. And the handsome husband has had a particularly busy year, so he needs some down time as well.
Good food, good wine, long walks, reading books — not writing them, a movie or two, perhaps some gardening, and the renewed companionship of dear friends. What could be more restorative?
Life is good and I am blessed!
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Deborah Harmes, Ph.D.
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December 14th, 2009 @ 5:49 PM
Great to see you out and about. Even turtles need air!
December 14th, 2009 @ 6:39 PM
You funny little dear — it was good to see your face as well.