Silence or Sound?

Aug 25, 2009 by

Ever have one of those moments when a story just crystalises, and you have to get it on paper right that second? It’s a brilliant moment, but annoying, too. I had a brainwave in the middle of yoga, which really did no favours for the meditation at the end (a still and quiet mind? not mine) and resulted in a swift walk home and attempting to write and cook at the same time. My new toy allows me to, but if I keep it up my new toy isn’t going to live long!

Anyway, it’s 800 words perfect for something like Take-a-Break with a little editing, which is good. And speaking of editing, I’m doing th Swan Made ones now. I’m annoyed at myself because I did half of it yesterday, but didn’t realise I was saving it to the Temp folder. When I couldn’t find it I downloaded the edits again, which meant I overwrote the Temp file anyway. So, annoyed.

But, to go back to an earlier point: meditation. One of the things the DCE writing group did was hold hands and “clear our minds”. Now, aside from the fact that I’m not much of a meditator anyway – I try, but the closer I get the more likely I am to doze off! – that’s just not how writing works for me. I need a busy mind, so I can magpie the shiney bits of my own thoughts and save them for later. I’m not much of a believer in muses and creative spirits anyway, but it’s little observations and thoughts that I find inspiring, not stillness and peace. Observations like the woman next to me at yoga being stopped repeatedly because, being pregnant, she couldn’t do the positions the rest of us were.

How about everyone else? Peace and quiet or busy and distracted?


Speaking of distracted, I’m completely multitasking here and listening to a very creepy ghost story on BBC iPlayer. If you can get iPlayer, have a listen.

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