Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello.
I feel completely out of touch with anything outside of my immediate reach. I know more about what’s going on in my imaginary world then I do in the “real” world.
A whirlwind came, and when the whirlwinds come, things get “back burnered” because let’s face it, we can’t do it all.
This time it was the blog on the back burner while I gallivanted through my days of full-plateness. Hello, again, you! How have you been?
I’m experimenting with how language affects mental state. I used to say I was “overwhelmed,” but I’ve recently changed that to “whirlwinded,” because that sounds a bit more pleasant. Like, “Oooh, my European book tour was a whirlwind of activities!”
Overwhelmed sounds oppressive. When we feel “overwhelmed” we forget to, or can’t, look at all our activities individually and enjoy them in the moment.
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Recently, I took my computer to the Genuis Bar at the Apple Store. My Internet browsers have been crashing because my operating system is too old. I was informed that my laptop is officially “vintage” (circa 2006!) so they can no longer work on it.
My computers are like my cars. I ride them until they are blissfully journeyed out. I’d never trade in my computer for a younger, blingier model just for the newness of it. I’ve poured too much into this relationship just to chuck it on a whim. I’ve created and destroyed, budgeted and bled, photoshopped and worded and thunderbirded, built worlds, recorded songs, deleted embarrassments… we’ve traveled far.
(Fortune from cookie: Look for the dream that keeps coming back. It is your destiny.)
She’s been to Italy and on three book tours. On trains and planes and automobiles and bikes. On film sets and in classrooms. Her keys are so worn, I have to sharpie on the letters (for my students, I know my keys by mind and heart). She’s like my old Toyota FX with its cracked windshield, my favourite worn pair of boots with the broken zippers, my own slightly-damaged soul.
The Genius’s news was thus: she has about 6 months to live, and with the last upgrade she can endure, she may live for 3 more. I have been told I should prepare for the end. And so it is; and so I do. It is a good time for renovation and renewal.
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It seems I’m not the only absent blogger of late! Kelly Barnhill posted this lovely I’ll Show you Mine if You Show me Yours asking everyone to share what they’ve been working on. (which is a great idea for a meme, methinks).
So, What’s Up With You? I want to know.
Tell me something interesting that you did, learned, discovered, watched, read, wrote, etc while I was away!
What you write here describes a disease. It’s not in the DSM but it’s real: “I feel completely out of touch with anything outside of my immediate reach. I know more about what’s going on in my imaginary world then I do in the “real” world.” This disease is shared by several million writers. There is no cure.
Oh, well… at least I’m in good company.
Yup, I relate. I’ve been using the “overwhelmed” word for a long time now. I love your idea about “whirlwinded” instead. Thanks for sharing that. Sheer genius! 🙂
I have my moments.
Whirlwinded sounds like you went from one party to another and danced every dance.