Ah, speaking of school, my daughters started back up last week. I am proud to say that everything went smoothly, which makes it almost a non-topic to muse over, but this is a kind of exciting situation for me. I'm back to having large chunks of time alone in the house, which is going to do wonders for my writing. Even if Kyle or the girls are perfectly quiet, I struggle to get creative work done while they're in the house. I'm not entirely sure what that blockage is, but I know it's mine, and it's absurd, so I'm hoping that having this time alone will be what I need to get some momentum going with my writing to help me carry it forward into the times when they are here (and are perfectly quiet.) As an introvert, alone time is essential to my well-being, and I'm excited to see what creative things happen when I'm fully charged.
I've been working on a short story over the last week that is about a mermaid working as a bartender in a seaside town called Port Starboard. It was intended to be funny, an opportunity for me to inject some humor into my writing, but as writing is prone to do, it has taken on a life of its own. My lighthearted story has turned into a serious commentary on what we give up to live our dreams. I loved the silliness of the name Port Starboard, but it has sort of morphed into the metaphorical fork in the road. Left or right? Which way do you go? Which life do you choose? As writers, we're wise to let our characters speak for themselves rather than try to bend them to our idea of who they should be. But dang, I was hoping to write something humorous for a change. Nothing is wasted with writers, so I'm jotting down notes on what I would be writing if the story was going my way, and maybe one of these days I'll go back and rewrite it in a way that makes people laugh rather than stare off into the distance, pondering the complexities of life. In the meantime, I'm just going to do my job and keep writing down what the voices in my head whisper to me and see where this one goes.
My coffee cup is empty once again, which means it's time for me to get moving with my day. This time next week I'll be back in class myself, so I'm taking this opportunity to just drink in the quiet until it's time to hit the ground running again. Yoga, meditation, good books, and good food are all in my near future and it feels heavenly. Welcome back, Fall. I missed you.
