The blog featured after, Grace Elliot- author, is the captivating http://blogaliciousblogs.blogspot.com
Do stop by and say hello plus some of us are having giveaways and contests. Enjoy!
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| Widget and friend - more of Widget later...... |
Writing to Me is…Escapism.
The theme of this week’s Blog-A-Licious Blog Tour is “Writing to me is….” Many adjectives spring to mind when I think about what writing means to me: addictive, essential, rewarding, frustrating…but the one that stands head and shoulders above the rest is ‘Escapism.’
Let me explain.
Life is hectic. I’m a working mother with two teenage sons. My job as a veterinarian is both intellectually and emotionally demanding. Veterinary medicine requires logical thinking and deduction, no flights of fancy or imagination, but cold, hard scientific facts in order to reach a diagnosis. And then I must translate those conclusions into words that a distressed client can understand without being baffled by long words.
I have worked at the same practice for twelve years and have known many of the patients since they were puppies or kittens.When they become ill, this is extra pressure because I feel I know them like my own pets. The temptation is to then ‘take work home with me’ and dwell on difficult cases once I’ve left the surgery, with exhausting results. I’ve learnt the hard way that everyone needs time to relax and switch off…and for me this is where writing comes in.
I have worked at the same practice for twelve years and have known many of the patients since they were puppies or kittens.When they become ill, this is extra pressure because I feel I know them like my own pets. The temptation is to then ‘take work home with me’ and dwell on difficult cases once I’ve left the surgery, with exhausting results. I’ve learnt the hard way that everyone needs time to relax and switch off…and for me this is where writing comes in.
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| Widget demonstrating that relaxation takes dedication and tenacity (a skill, she says, that few humans possess.) |
I started writing five years ago, after a school reunion. People I hadn’t seen for twenty years asked if I still wrote stories, (my English homework was regularly read out to the class.) In a ‘Eureka
I’ve never looked back since. Always an avid reader, to rediscover the joy of crafting my own world is escapism without price! I have a photographic memory and visualize a scene in my head and then transfer it to the page – an almost meditative process. Mentally placing myself in Regency England, mixing with the characters and feeling their peril has trained me to let go of the worries of the present day, rest and refresh. It’s amazing how much more energy I have when I don’t waste it brooding over the day and worrying about the one ahead.
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| Obviously I've disturbed Widget's 'Chi' by getting up! |
So for me writing is an escape from everyday cares….plus I get to spend more time with Widget (one of my five cats.) She thoroughly approves of my writing habit because she snuggles up to my leg. I’d like to think it was love, but I suspect it’s just that I’m warm…but hey, you can’t have everything!
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Don’t forget, the next stop on the Blog-A-Licious tour is the lovely Pandora’s blog at:
Thanks for visiting!
See you again soon, G x
