Here's the overview of my day so far (if I survive, it might be comical): illness kept me up in pain all night; in the morning, I purchased the wrong item at the grocery, so I had to go back; rain flooded my neighborhood; lunch looked good but wasn't; I finally got reimbursed for a extraneous charge from a company but ended up having to pay more than that for my prescription because I haven't yet met my deductible; I got backed up on work; I took a pain reliever that gave me hives; I logged on to gmail to find that everyone who hasn't gotten back to me in the last two weeks decided to email me today; I had trouble concentrating because I was tired; I responded to a personal email after misreading it, so had to respond again, but the person had already responded to my response, so it kept on; my leg fell asleep when I tried to meditate, then
I fell asleep and almost hit my head on the wall (still trying to meditate); I found it difficult to exercise; and so on.
This day makes me want advice, but instead of asking someone, I'm thinking about all the advice I'd give someone else who is having a bad day. Are you having a bad day? Ordinarily, I'd say...
- Meditate
- Read
- Exercise
- Eat well
- Talk to a friend
- Be grateful for what you have
- Drink lots of water (I say this to people no matter what's wrong)
- Take a bath
- Take a long walk
- Hang out with your dog or cat or bird
I didn't drink that much water today, but I tried most of this other stuff at some point. Now, I'm brooding. I'm dwelling in my misery, digging deep into it and adding up all the factors. In fact, I'm starting to feel a weensy bit better with each word I type, so maybe the secret to being in a bad mood is to just own it fully. Maybe when we try to fight the bad feelings, they fight back.
Creativity prompt: Write or paint or sketch something inspired by a truly horrible day. (The book above is fantastic, by the way.)
Recent publications (short stuff):
Polygon in
Chicago Literati,
Lottery Days in
Literary Orphans.
I hope tomorrow is better.
ReplyDeleteI'll read those stories in the morning probably.
Thanks! I think I could've added the debate to this list. :) I'm doing much better today.
DeleteGlad you're doing better.
DeleteThanks for sharing the stories. Good stuff. Is it harder for you to write flash type pieces where you have to be really concise and not waste sentences, or is it harder for you to write longer stories which require more material?
Thanks for asking!! It depends on the story. These short stories come in fits, like poems. The longer work develops like longer-term relationships. There are complexities, and I have to I have to nurture them more due to the nuance and potential for logic errors or other shortcomings. Meanwhile, I find the longer works require less passion than the short work.
DeleteInteresting answer. Thanks.
Delete