In my last blog, I described why I like writing children’s
stories. This time around, I’d like to describe one of the reasons I like
writing.
I was clicking through my favourite websites over my cup of
coffee yesterday morning when I came a Facebook post from a relative who’s a
dedicated conspiracy theorist. (9/11 was a US government plot. Vaccines are
killers. The Illuminati are running our lives. And on. And on.) That day’s post
offered ‘scientific’ proof that wearing face masks to prevent the spread of
COVID -19 is actually a danger to our
health.
Without wanting to wade into the whole mask argument, let me
just say such stuff drives me round the bend. Bloviating experts working on
‘faith’ alone infuriate me. This one infuriated me so much I couldn’t sit still.
I had to get up, walk around and talk to the cat for five minutes to calm
myself down.
The last thing I wanted to do was write. Sit and work on a
story about a little girl banding together with friends to save a local beauty
spot? I was so angry I couldn’t get myself into the calm, innocent frame of
mind I needed to describe her adventures.
Yet not writing only
made me feel worse. So I made a compromise with myself: all I had to do was
write one page. And then if I really
wasn’t in the mood, I could stop.
I finished the chapter and began the next one, because that
new idea in the first had prompted a new idea for the second. I kept writing. Almost
before I knew it, I’d written 1,500 words. I’d also calmed down. A lot.
That’s the reason for writing I mentioned at the beginning
of this blog. It takes me away from all the nonsense and negativity of the
world. It makes me feel better. More positive. It makes me – when it’s going
well* – glad to be alive. I hope it always will.
*I could no doubt write another blog post about what happens
when it doesn’t go well. But if I do it’ll be another time.
6 comments:
Lovely! (My husband discovered this week that someone he knows and likes is an anti-vaxxer. She says she won't have a covid vaccine, and her children haven't had any vaccinations.????? Honestly, I find the world more bewildering day by day.
Thank you. Nick! Good stories - even stories about stories - are very welcome these days.
That's lovely and encouraging, and I recognise the way writing our own stories can help us choose a better narrative than ones foisted on us, and calm us down!
Excellent post, Nick! Isn't it interesting how writing helps calm down the internal rage? (Just as well, since we rage at the news most days now!)
Commiserations on the dumb relative. I have a fairly obvious theory re- the conspiracy theorists - we are, after all, a story telling species, and these are stories masquerading as facts. Have you encountered the demons and lizards yet?
Great post Nick! Life and conspiracy theorists can be so discombobulating but you are right writing can be so grounding, allowing you to escape this crazy world to a world that is safe and hopefully happy. Thank you for writing this, it reminds me why I need to write
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