Escapism or Brain Refreshment?

by Frank Bonilla/ Abstracts.tv

{Supposedly, this is some sort of scan or picture of one of two color processors inside our brain. They are the size of golf balls and are found behind the eyes.}

I've felt restricted in my rut lately. Duties, chores and responsibilities have kept me from even looking at my WIP in the last five or so months. I think my ability to work on larger projects is stymied, or maybe I just don't want to take out the manuscript because of all the interruptions constantly tugging at me in a house with 17-, 18- and 20-year-olds. Plus, I'm at my parent's house half the time too. And maybe some of my "WIP neglect" is due to a few emotional roadblocks pertaining to my mom's brain tumor situation. (Not whining, just talking to myself and my WIP partners.) *smile*

I'm lucky to have lots of smaller projects to work on -- my Co-publisher/editor at Rose & Thorn and I are revamping the zine's newsletter and website, plus getting prose and poetry in shape for our October edition. I pushed myself to enter the Rattle annual poetry contest, and have done a few Visual Poetry pieces. I also recently got the gist of Twitter through trial and error, and am managing to keep up with the daily blogging. Ya know...things I can pick up and put down without stressing over.

So that's where I am currently, ever aware that my women's fiction ms is in need of revision. And since I have a few days off coming this week, I'm going to sneak off to my shade tree on the deck/luxurious bathtub place and see if I can motivate myself to concentrate on the WIP. I need some quiet personal time and space.

Let's keep each other up on progress and regress. It helps to know you're not the only one out there struggling! Like the lovely image here, maybe it's good to try to see things from a different perspective sometimes too.

Comfortably Numb Under a Shade Tree.

In keeping with the topic started by our very own Twitter celebrity I thought it would be nice to just reflect on...relaxing. How do you reflect on relaxing? Well, in the middle of the day or even the night when you are working on this or that or that and this it is always good to project yourself to a time or place that relaxes you. For example, a nice warm bubble bath is the thing for some of us. For me it is sitting on my newly built (yes, I built it too) deck that overlooks the mountains and captures the breeze under a nice shade tree.

It is amazing how the simple things are the most relaxing. Perhaps that is why so many are overlooked as we work on so many things throughout the day.

Are you surprised I did not say writing is relaxing? In a sense it is but I am learning that there are levels to relaxation. Writing is one level. It is that level where you don't really feel taxed and the frustration is at a minimum (most times). Then you have the next level where you find sitting on the deck of taking a bubble bath. This level of relaxation actually refreshes the soul. You can feel the tension and the stress being drawn from your body. At moments like this it is easy to feel comfortably numb.

It is fun to blog, tweet, venture on social networks, write, and do any number of untold projects but it is really important that we remember to stop and spend some time on that comfortably numb level of relaxation.

Good Old Fashioned High Tech Times

Need to Unwind but Haven't the Time

Finally, the Ms Twitter 'Wall of Fame' is up (click on bath) and, in one way, I can put it behind me but in another it's all just kicking off.

Requests for articles have been coming in. Need to chill in a good old fashioned tub of bubbles but I can't because there are messages to pick up and web things to do. Maybe if I had this bath I could relax and work at the same time. Is that possible? If not: maybe a glass of champagne; a bath full of bubbles, and a good film would be just.... brilliant. :)

Hugs to fellow Wip- wielders

Rebecca xx