May 1st! Happy May Day! But who has encroached on this wondrous day that celebrates spring in all its craziness? What - it's a day to reflect on the plight of the worker? Aw fudge. I don't wanna. Don't get me wrong - I'm a union girl down to my toes. Why when my first child was born over 54 years ago, I went into labour at 9 am and delivered at 5. But I want to celebrate mayflowers (so sweet, so elusive, so fragrant) and hope that the merlins come back to have their next batch of kids here again, and get my peas in again (durn birds ate the first bunch I put in). I want to make a flower crown and lie about in the grass dreaming of swimming. Here's the version of May Day that I want: (Wikepedia naturally)
May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice.] Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. Traditions often include gathering wildflowers and green branches, weaving floral garlands, crowning a May Queen (sometimes with a male companion), and setting up a Maypole, May Tree or May Bush, around which people dance. Bonfires are also part of the festival in some regions. Regional varieties and related traditions include Walpurgis Night in central and northern Europe, the Gaelic festival Beltane, the Welsh festival Calan Mai, and May devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Europe, It has also been associated with the ancient Roman festival Floralia.
Besides we already have a day for the worker in Canada - it is Labour Day and it happens the first Monday in September. Proper thing.
Of course today also marks the monthly celebration of the insecure writer, as does the first Wednesday in every month. Go to this spot to sign up or find other writers banging on about their insecurities. Insecure Writers Support Group
Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!
Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day.
Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.
May 1 question - How do you deal with distractions when you are writing? Do they derail you?
May 1 answer: Well duh, yes, distractions aren't distractions if they don't derail you. How do I deal with them when I'm writing? I entertain them for awhile. I let them take me away on clouds of inconsequentiality and then when they are distracted themselves I smack them and send them packing! Positively everything is distracting to me when I am trying to focus. And I meditate every day so I'm well aware that all distractions begin and end in my own head space. And no, it isn't true that knowing a problem is half a problem solved. But being so well used to them I can give you my list of ways to derail my distractions before they completely take over.
1. Have a list of things I really want to finish every day. It shouldn't be a huge list - just two or three things to do with writing projects such as get one query out, or write 2000 words in wip or research microscopic black holes for book on Shag Harbour incident.
2. Give myself a time limit on distractions. For example : allow myself half an hour to watch youtube on how to train my dog to do the cha cha. Or tell myself that after working steadily for an hour and a half I can go to the kitchen and start a batch of cookies.
3. Instead of focusing on the distractions or distract myself by worrying about the distractions, I try and focus on what is going well. I climb the mountain of possibility instead of falling over the cliff of despair. I reward myself often (just with little things but still) knowing that I'm the kind of work horse that responds better to the carrot than the stick.
4. Remind myself that if I'm being particularly distracted it is usually because I'm afraid for some reason of going forward with writing. Then I spend a bit of time sleuthing out my apprehension. That usually works a treat.
Okay - back to work I go. I have one more post to write and a query to make.
So Happy May Day everyone! I'm going to go pick mayflowers and loll about in the grass.
6 comments:
Hope the grass isn't wet!
There is a YouTube video for everything, isn't there?
I like your techniques to deal with distractions, especially writing a daily list.
Happy May Day! My little superstition is that on the first day of the month the first words out of my mouth must be "Rabbit Rabbit." For some reason, May 1 is particularly important. I woke up in the wee hours and I can't remember for sure, but I think I may have talked to myself before remembering the magic words. Oh well. Enjoy the flowers, the peas, and most especially the cookies!
My sisters and I used to pick flower bouquets on May Day, make little cards and give them to our friends, or our mom. It was one of my favorite "holidays" when I was little.
Hello. It's nice to be back in the group. Life's challenges did derail my writing of novels. Instead, I began to research my ancestors' lives. That is a rabbit hole that can take you on a shocking journey. I've been encouraging everyone I know and meet to write their biography. Seriously, this is important, maybe not for the current generation but it will be fascinating to family who arrive in another one hundred years. My objective was to expand the details of birth, death, etc. to include photos, stories, and more precious are the letters. Are letters still being written? So much more authentic expression was being said in those letters than what we find on facebook or other social media. Consider writing your ancestors' bio and, especially important, your own. Blessings
Thanks, Jan, for sharing what you do in the face of distractions. It really is important, I think, to have firm priorities and stick to them. Then you can be flexible about other things that you might have to temporarily push aside. And spring really is a giddy, happy time, isn't it?
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