A freewriting exercise - Write about a place you've been

As I mentioned in my last post, I have started a 40 day writing exercise.  I felt today's 10 minute writing sprint was good enough to post. 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I visited Ireland the first time, it was with my parents.  It was the first time I had been overseas and I wasn’t disappointed.  There was so much there that was different than being home in the US.  Besides the cars being on the wrong side of the street and the other obvious differences, it was the little things that really drew my attention.  Like the fact that not everyone has a phone or a shower there, or a computer for that matter.  I’m sure it’s a bit different with the computers now that it’s over a decade later, but there is still an underlying difference in the way we do things.  The people are so much calmer there, and the lifestyles are so much slower.  It’s as if Americans have forgotten how to just slow down and enjoy their day.  I think people here feel that if they’re not cramming something important or worthwhile into every minute of their day then they’re not working hard enough or wasting time.  Where is the time to smell the roses, to stare at a tree or squirrel in your backyard, to feel the morning sun on your face without having a car pass by and ruin the moment?  

 I enjoyed the people in Ireland very much because they seemed to enjoy themselves.  Not every minute has to be packed with either work or entertainment; there can be a middle ground.  There can be the nothingness in between work and play that puts everything into perspective.  Not having a shower means nothing to some people there.  “It would be wonderful to have one” they say, but it’s not imperative and they go on with their lives without dwelling on it or making a fuss.  I think we could stand to do without some things here in America.  I don’t think the children of today realize just how much they have going for them; then again I’m sure every generation says that about the one after them.  So much technology pervades every part of our day; every ounce of our energy goes into either maintaining the gadgets we have or seeking out the ones we want.  People seem to have forgotten that there was a time when no phones or computers or internet existed, and that the people back then seemed to have been happier with their lives overall.  Maybe they made more time for family, or play, or to simply sit and talk.  How many people these days sit and have one on one conversations anymore?  They either get interrupted by texts or calls, or get bored and do something else, like watch Youtube videos.  It’s sad really, that so few people actually talk to one another that grammar is at an all time low and everyone with a camera thinks they’re a filmmaker, everyone with a keyboard thinks they’re William Shakespeare, and no one can tell the difference.  

 If there’s one thing I took away from visiting Ireland, it’s that we need to keep a part of every day free to just enjoy life.  Stop working, look up from the screen of whatever you’re glued to, and just look around.  People watch, feel the air, take in your surroundings, and if you don’t like them go somewhere else.  There is so much out there that you can miss if you’re looking down at a screen all day.  Look up.

40 Days to more imaginative writing

I just completed Day 1 of a 40 day exercise designed to help you be a more creative writer.  It took me long enough to start it, which annoys me because that seems to be my biggest hurdle right now.  Just being afraid to start.  When I write a blog post, or even think about writing one, I worry about the fact that I don't have a topic to expound on or that what I write will not be interesting.  I need to learn to silence that inner critic, because all it does is stop me from trying or even just playing.  I realized while doing this first exercise that I have not written fiction in years.  I have a notebook full of one page blurbs of ideas, dreams, thoughts, even possible topics for a stand up routine, but none of it has ever been put to use.  I think that should stop soon.  I will go back to that notebook and mine for any nuggets of gold that may have been laid there after waking from an odd dream or having a strange idea pop into my head while doing a massage.  Just starting is the hardest part.  And now that I've started this exercise, it will help me to at least write a little every day.  In fact, just writing for the ten minutes of the exercise made me want to write more, and here I am posting.  So it already has had some good effects. 

I just got back from a week in Orlando with my mother looking for apartments and jobs.  I found a wonderful apartment complex that I'm thrilled about and I can't wait to move in.  The catch 22 that I was caught in; needing a job to be approved for an apartment and needing to live in Orlando before I could interview for jobs, has been solved by my parents signing off for me on the apartment.  We saw some beautiful spas and resorts that I will definitely be applying to, and the area I will be living in could not be nicer.  The apartment is on a quiet, tree-surrounded street free of tourist cars, in literally the backyard of Disney World.  I will be able to see (or at least hear) the fireworks every night. *sigh*  It's finally happening.  My near-lifelong dream of living in Orlando is almost ready to happen.  Every day I lose a little bit more fear of the unknown, and gain a bit more confidence about my ability to make this work.  The next dream after I'm all settled there will be to become fully self-employed; to not work under anyone but myself.  I think it could happen eventually, but I'm hoping sooner than later.  I have to be realistic though; I don't expect to be a booming pet sitting business by the end of one year, and I don't expect to have a novel published in 2 years.  But I do know that when the time is right and I have worked as hard as I can without backing down, then what I want out of life will happen for me. 

Perhaps the thing I have needed all this time was not something to write about, but to give myself permission to write, no matter the subject matter.  That, too, is starting to happen.
Life is good.  Here's to change. Salut!