Part of it is due to a larger issue—we have to put the house on the market by spring at the latest. Ever since my husband and I came to this decision, I have felt myself withdraw from the house emotionally. Unfortunately, when I get a good rationalization brewing on the back burner—"withdrawing from the house emotionally"—my penchant for sloth kicks in and the next thing I know, I'm living in a hovel.
The situation is now affecting my writing.
When the physical environment begins to sneak into my peripheral vision, I start getting writer's block. But really—it all started with cook's block, gardener's block, launderer's block and cleaner's block. All of those things I do to keep house went right out the window and I thought I was exercising freedom! R. T. Freeman, unshackled! Writing! Throw in a wonderful vacation! And a really fun wedding! And then ANOTHER wonderful vacation! And over the last few weeks, I've exacerbated the situation further by binging on the best-written show on television: Breaking Bad. (Father Barron's website reviewed the show here.) Warning: this show is not for everybody. It's fraught with unspeakable violence, sorrow and even insanity, but there is not one gratuitous scene. A small non-spoiler example: In Season 4 one of the main characters, recently enriched by huge meth sales and laundered money, buys a house and soon, it becomes party central. It doesn't take long, however, for the endless party to change and after a few days, the only people showing up are strangers and hopeless addicts with their bad teeth, their urine-soaked clothes and their madness.
Netflix. Aaaargh.
What I just did there ... that's what I do all the time. I digress.
So, as soon as I post this, I will get back to housework. November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and I need to have everything spit-spot. Last November, I had another writer over and we did the middle-aged version of an all-nighter: we wrote from 7 p.m to 1:30 in the morning. I plan to have more writing nights, plus our Library is having a writing night ... more details on that in an upcoming post.
Alrighty, then. I can't believe it, but I have to dust the vacuum cleaner before I use it. Pretend you didn't read that.
Lol on the vacuum comment(I'm there too)! And thx for reminding me about Nano, I need to go check out my library's events calendar, they usually have some cool authors in during Nano. Woot!
ReplyDeleteYes, Leandra ... I didn't sign up until Nov. 11th last year and I did my faux-Scarlet O'Hara routine: shook my fist while holding a sheet of paper and declaring "I'll NEVER sign up this late for Nanowrimo again!"
DeleteI wish I could share some of my nesting instinct with you. I'm having a hard time doing anything BUT cleaning (which can sometimes be disheartening in a house 300 or so years old...) and driving my family crazy begging them not to leave their toys out!
ReplyDeleteI've heard a lot about Breaking Bad--it'll be interesting to read Father Barron's take on it. But I suppose watching it had better wait until the psychotic pregnancy hormones and emotions wear off as well. :)
I almost called the post "Nesting for Nanowrimo" but then I thought— nesting is for bringing home an infant, not writing like a crazy person for a month straight!
DeleteAnd actually, Fr. Barron didn't write the piece. It was written by Jared Zimmerer, who's blurb on Father's website goes thusly: "Jared Zimmerer is an author, husband and father of 4 from Denton, Texas, whose apostolate, "Strength for the Kingdom," teaches about the inherent connection between spiritual and physical fitness. Check out Jared’s website at www.jaredzimmerer.com."
I have a seriously hard time picturing you psychotic. Continuing to keep you REAL close in prayer ... yer comin' into the home stretch now!
No matter how unattached I am to a house, my living space needs to have some sense of order for me to write. I've never done Nano, but wish you the best ... break a keyboard!
ReplyDeleteHow funny you should say that! We are contacting folks RE: warranty on newish laptop. Why? Loose keys on keyboard! Thank you for your encouragement, Vijaya ... I hope you get to do Nano some November. It's kind of wanton, but I have no minor children under my roof and my homeschooling days are done so ... wheeeeeee!
DeleteUgh, I hate cleaning! We actually pay a woman $45 a month to come and clean the house. It's a bargain to me...I sit on the patio and write articles while she works. Usually, by the time she's finished, I've earned $50-$100 doing what I love AND I have a clean house!
ReplyDelete$45 a month! Now THAT'S a deal! I used to have a friend who needed to make some money come and clean once a week while I worked on writing and/or graphic design. She didn't like cleaning all that much, and it was only the downstairs and I paid $40. for a couple hours work. Sigh. Here in New England, the rates for cleaning ladies/gentlemen are pretty high.
DeleteRosemary, if you have time, would you participate in a blog hop. Details on my blog. Five questions about your work and process. Thanks so much. V.
ReplyDelete