Tag Archives: Family

Finding Balance at the End of the Year

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November is quickly slipping away, and I generally don’t do much writing in December and January because, you know, family events and summer and stuff.

So how do you find a balance between being creative and ‘the silly season’?

I’m not much of a Christmas person, though I have to admit that in the last couple of years, I have actually hummed a Christmas Carol or two. But I haven’t broken out into a full on rendition of Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer yet. When that happens, you know that hell has probably frozen over. I’m not a Grinch. For years Christmas was a period of pain for me because of the toxic relationship I was in, and all the directions I was being pushed and pulled in. All I wanted to do was go bush for three weeks and come back when it was all over.

But slowly, I have been starting to actually get into the spirit of Christmas, although it has to be in December, because October is not CHRISTMAS! Even my bootcamp instructor gets into the swing of things with Christmas carols blasting as we’re sweating and swearing. And it normally includes a Christmas ensemble, complete with Christmas socks. I haven’t gone down that road yet. Please shoot me if I ever do.

But being a creative, I need to be doing something to keep my mental state above the median strip. I need to be able to have some outlet in which my brain can get the endorphins (or whatever it is that I’m supposed to be getting) and keep me in a positive mood.

Often it is doing something like paper crafting, card making, or something similar. I have a book that needs to be edited by 7th January (WHAT WAS I THINKING!) so that will take up some time. Of course, there is also my gardening, which brings me joy and happiness. (My roses are looking AMAZING!)

This yearChristmas is looking different too, because I’m working Christmas Day and Boxing Day, but doing the dayshift hours instead of the afternoon shift hours (double time and a day in lieu). I’ll be working through the holidays, so that means that some writing will be done over that time.

And catching up with family, because my family are important to me, and it will be lovely to see them and spend time with them over the holiday period. We have plans for the three days I have off over the holiday period and head over to Wineborough to catch up with Mum and head through to Pictown and see Dad.

I always try and plan to have lots of positives going on around Christmas, and I think that has really helped me to get over the funk that it used to bring. It’s not a period I wish to escape from anymore, now it’s a time when I get to be with and enjoy time with my family.

Scrambled Brains

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I’ve just got back from a trip over to Wineborough to see my Mum, Stepmum and Dad. My Stepmum isn’t very well at the moment, so I took the opportunity to go over and catch up with them all.

My stepmum is very special to me, and her illness is very serious, and it’s been playing on my mind for a couple of weeks. To the point that my brain has become like scrambled eggs. I think it is a combination of stress and tiredness, but I notice it when I’m mentally stressed mostly, and that is, that words just don’t always come to me. The most common objects, I can look at it, and it will take me a while to figure out what it is. Case in point, I used the last of my floss the other day on my teeth and couldn’t remember for the life of me what it was called. Of course, the packaging didn’t help, it just called it floss, so I wrote it down on my shopping list as mouth floss. It took me 5 (FIVE) days to remember it was called Dental Floss!

And this sort of thing is a problem when you’re writing regularly. Sometimes you know a word, but it won’t come into your head when you need it, so you use other words that mean it, but it’s not what you want to use, and of course, when the time comes to edit, I will read it and think, what the hell am I talking about!

Do you have scrambled brain problems too? Hopefully you had a good week.

Take care out there.

Catherine

When Not to Write, or Edit, as the Case may be.

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I’ve had my Mum come to visit from Wineborough, and it’s been lovely catching up with her. But it also means that I don’t get to write or edit as much when she is around. Is that a bad thing?

No, it’s not. It’s a chance for me to have a break and come back refreshed. Mum comes over every six weeks or so, so it’s nice to have that time to catch up with her and spend time with her, as she lives 2.5 hours away from me now. She used to be 10 minutes around the corner, but she moved to Wineborough to be with her other grandchildren. We try and travel over to catch up with her, and my Dad and StepMum who lives in Ferryton, but not as much as I would like.

While Mum has retired, and is able to travel freely, I have to wait until the weekend to head over, as I work. Although I did go over and stay with her when I had the Friday’s off over winter. It was nice to spend the extra night with her.

Family is important to me. They support me, encourage me and generally build me up when I need it. Mum has been one of my biggest supporters. The others being, strangely enough, my StepMum and an ex-Mother in Law. I love all of these ladies so much because they have helped me to get ahead in the writing game through their encouragement.

So, I don’t mind having a break while my Mum has here, it’s more important to spend time with her. I can write anytime, Mum won’t be around forever. (Love you Mum x x x)

So how has your week been?

Kia kaha everyone

Catherine