The Friday Five!
Dreaming is free.
Is there a place between crazy busy and doing nothing? If so, this week I was looking for it. I feel like lately I start each day being shot out of a cannon around 6:30am and am scrambling to keep up until I flop into bed hours later. Part of it is parenthood: I’ve got a busy kid (now into musical theatre! oh my heart!) and part of it is this book I’m writing, which is constantly tapping my shoulder like, “Um, hey, can you come back over here?” Seriously: some books are like pulling teeth. This one is like riding a comet. HOLD ON! Or try to. But when it gets crazy, I think back to sitting on this couch a year ago, the days empty while I was anxious and lonely and so, so sad. As busy as I am, this so much better.
Today I am going to my old high school to visit a creative writing class. This is a direct result of me meeting the teacher at another event and being so excited such a thing existed that I basically invited myself. But! The creative writing class I took there in eleventh grade was game changing for me. It was really hard to get into, so I was pumped when I finally did. Then the instructor had a health issue, so they stuck everyone they could in other classes. There were only a handful of us with no other options, so they recruited another teacher, Mr. Sonnenberg, to teach us. He admitted he did not know what he was doing, so he just let us write. Not about given prompts, as we were used to, but whatever we wanted. And friends: it was dark. We were dark. He would read our stuff and half-joke about getting fired. But I will always remember that class, where I learned what it was like to write freely, and I namechecked Mr. Sonnenberg in the first pages The Truth About Forever for that very reason. Maybe he’s reading this? If so, thank you again. Sorry for all the darkness.
3. Is there anything better than finding a new show with multiple seasons that is FANTASTIC? Nope. Which is why, when I am not writing these days, all I want to do is watch The Morning Show. I started it back when it premiered, and then, well, life. But last weekend I went back to the pilot and now I am obsessed. I mean, Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon? Plus “Your looks have become a problem!” Billy Crudup, from my favorite movie Almost Famous. As well as a million other great actors and some seriously sharp writing. The fact that I am a Good Morning America superfan is just icing on the cake.
I continue to be obsessed with my garden and birds. At this point, it’s a mental health thing. I get overwhelmed, go outside and flop into my chair, sighing loudly. Then I sit. If I am still, the birds come. One at first, then more. If I’m really lucky, and stay quiet, a rabbit or two will emerge and start poking around just feet from me, followed by some squirrels. It’s a good reminder that despite what is happening in my life or my head, this world goes on, constant, focused solely on food and survival. If I soak it in, I can literally can feel my blood pressure drop. In case you need that—-and who doesn’t—-here you go. *exhales*
Finally, a word about manifestation. My husband will tell you—wearily—that I am always talking about the magic of the universe. I hear a song or see someone I haven’t in forever I’m all like, “IT’S A SIGN!” I think it comes from wanting to believe another hand is at work other than my own sticky, frantic ones. One of our family mottoes is Dreaming Is Free, from the Blondie song, and we are always dreaming about a lot of things both wonderful and impossible. Right now, it’s Taylor Swift tickets (someday!) and getting to see Hamilton in NYC, but it is always changing. I used to think that imagining good things happening would almost guarantee they wouldn’t. (See sitting around depressed, above.) It’s a leap of faith to hope, but it’s a leap nonetheless. A time for stillness, a time for movement. And always, time to dream.
Have a good weekend, everyone!