Writing | Sleep is for the Weak

Mood Swings

Posted by Josie on Dec 11, 2009 in Me | 20 comments

I’m a bit up and down at the moment. I’m not sure why.

Some of it is just me I think. I’ve always blown a bit hot and cold and never been very good at concealing my emotions. If I’m happy you could probably solve the world’s energy crisis by running a power lead off my manic energy. But if I’m upset, or pissed off? Man alive, are you going to know about it. The Hadron Collider holds nothing like my potential for causing an accidental Universal Apocalypse. Most days I like this, it makes life more interesting. It makes ME more interesting.

But lately I seem to have been even more temperamental, with the emphasis on mental that is. And what’s frustrating me is that my ‘ups’ are being far overshadowed by my ‘downs’, with the down days triggered by more and more meaningless, pathetic incidents. An unkind word, perhaps not even meant for me but taken that way, can leave me wallowing for hours. I am more and more easily hurt, offended, sensitive and buffeted by the energy and comments of other people.

Is it the no sleep thing? Is the months of sleep deprivation finally making a dent in my mental health? Things are better, yes, but one good night is offset by about ten bad and I’m still managing on about 4-5 hours a night, 6-7 on a really good night.

Or is it the writing? More and more I’m finding I need to open myself emotionally, not only to find the right words to express what I’m trying to say, but to help me perceive the world in a way that is interesting, evocative and engaging. And by ‘opening’ myself to that process I fall in love with it, care about it, obsess about it in a way I’m not sure is always healthy and leaves me vulnerable to feeling deflated and low in confidence.

Or is it, (and I hate this excuse but it’s a valid one), hormones. Kai is breastfeeding less, my prolactin levels have probably dropped through the floor, and other hormones seem to be reinstating their influence as evidenced by the visit of an old friend this week who has been absent since I fell pregnant (yes, that was a euphemism, to spare my male readers some embarrassment).

What ever it is, I don’t like it. I feel out of balance and out of control.

Would love to hear if anyone else struggles with this problem (although you men folk are excused from the last point). How do you balance yourself emotionally? What keeps you feeling sane?

Writing Workshop #8 – Addictions and Epiphanies

Posted by Josie on Dec 7, 2009 in Writing, Writing Prompts | 9 comments

Morning all. First of all, I need to say a huge thank you to everyone that took part last week. I was overwhelmed with how many of you took part and so touched and humbled by the beautiful letters that so many of you wrote. Thank you for sharing such personal and moving moments with me – I feel honoured to have shared them with you, and your bravery in facing difficult memories gave me the strength to revisit a few myself.

So, it’s a new week, and one that I hope will be just as creatively inspiring and challenging.

For all your newbies (and it’s never to late to join in), here’s how it works… I’m going to give you 5 writing/blogging prompts. Pick one, pick two, or do them all if you’re really keen – it’s up to you. How you respond is your choice. You could share a real-life story, or make one up. You could write a poem or just free-write without thinking too hard and see what happens. It can be funny; it can be serious; it can be emotional. It can be whatever you want it to be. The only rule is to have fun with it!

Prompts each week will take their inspiration from blogs, current affairs, daily life, or just whatever everyone happened to be talking about that week. If you’d like to suggest a prompt then send me an email or catch me on Twitter – I would love to hear your ideas.

So here they are:

1. What are you addicted to?
- Inspired by Kat at Slugs on the Refrigerator and her yarnaholism.

2. Tell me of your proudest moment.
- Inspired by Tara at Sticky Finger’s beautiful post ‘Jumpers for Goalposts’

3. “Have you ever had an epiphany, when you realized that something you’d long believed wasn’t really true?”
- Inspired by Amber Strocel’s recent post that asked this question and made me think.

4. Put yourself in the mindset of someone else, someone you see on the news, or read about in a book, or see a photo of in a magazine, or pass in the street. Perhaps even someone you know. Write about the world from their perspective, imagine how they must feel.
- Inspired by Heather from Notes from Lapland’s moving piece of writing based on her empathy for the victims of the Cumbrian Floods.

5. Have a good rant. Go on! You know you want to… get whatever has been bugging you off your chest. But you must be honest and not afraid to go against the grain!
- Inspired by ME! and my Christmas rant this week.

Now here’s what you have to do. Write your post and publish it on your blog between now and Wednesday. On Wednesday come back and use the widget that will be up to paste in the URL of your post to share. Then take some time to read some of the other entries and leave some comment love! We’re not here to critique – just to have fun and support each other in our writing experiments. So be kind please.

Anyone who would like to submit something via email, or even anonymously will be more than welcome to do so. I’ll post them on the site here and include the link in Wednesday’s round-up.

Feel free to use the Workshop badge on your blog or as part of your post if you like. Code is here:

Note: I’m told Blogger does something a bit funny with the code so you’ll need to copy and paste it and then retype the quotation marks (“) as Blogger changes them for some reason.

See you Wednesday then!

P.S. And if you fancy plugging this workshop on the social network of your choice? Then that would be fan-frigging-tastic.

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This Writing Workshop is brought to you in association with Mama Kat’s Losin’ It – who’s lovely author came up with the concept and runs her own workshop over in the U.S.

Writing Workshop #7 – Claims to Fame and Guilty Pleasures

Posted by Josie on Nov 30, 2009 in Writing, Writing Workshop | 2 comments

These Monday’s roll round quickly don’t they?! You ready for this week’s prompts?

So here they are:

1. Write a letter to your 16-year-old self
- Inspired by NotSupermum’s beautiful and touching post this week

2.What’s your guilty pleasure?
- Suggested by Leslieanne at Life with a Little Dude

3. Write about a dream you’ve had recently
- Inspired by Tim at Bringing Up Charlie and his bizarre dream of bloggers invading his living space!

4. I want to know your claim to fame (lame or otherwise)
- Inspired by Brits in Bosnia who is achieving some notoriety in her little town.

5. What do you do or where do you go to escape the stresses of every-day life?
- Inspired by ME! and my urban sanctuary this week.

Anyone who would like to submit something via email, or even anonymously will be more than welcome to do so. I’ll post them on the site here and include the link in Wednesday’s round-up.

Feel free to use the Workshop badge on your blog or as part of your post if you like. Code is here:

Note: I’m told Blogger does something a bit funny with the code so you’ll need to copy and paste it and then retype the quotation marks (“) as Blogger changes them for some reason.

See you Wednesday then!

P.S. And if you fancy plugging this workshop on the social network of your choice? Then that would be fan-frigging-tastic.

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This Writing Workshop is brought to you in association with Mama Kat’s Losin’ It – who’s lovely author came up with the concept and runs her own workshop over in the U.S.

Writing Workshop: Red Shoes

Posted by Josie on Nov 25, 2009 in Me, Writing, Writing Workshop | 25 comments

Welcome back to the Wednesday Writing Workshop link-up! At the bottom of this post you’ll find the widget to post the link to your workshop posts. But first, I guess it’s my turn. Now I had been excitedly planning to do prompt #1 but we’ve had nothing but rain, rain, rain and everywhere looks so grim and miserable. So I’m going to save that one for another day, and instead I’ve picked prompt #3 and found a picture of some shoes that I think reflect my personality pretty well…

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With thanks to Fete et Fleur for the image

The owner of these shoes is comfortable in her own skin, liking the feel of it and the way she seems to have grown into it, just as the soft leather of her shoes has moulded and knitted itself to the shapes and curves of her small, narrow feet.

The owner of these shoes burns as hot as they do, full of spark and passion and fire and drive. She feels connected to the blood that flows through her veins, blood of her ancestors and of the land beneath her feet.

The owner of these shoes is not afraid to wear them with stripy socks under flared, faded jeans, even though they may not match, or to team with long, slightly awkward legs and too-short skirts. They reflect the easy smile and bright eyes that eagerly meet your own, although may sometimes be hidden behind a frown and twist of her lips as she bites down nervously, or in concentration.

The owner of these shoes knows that there is no place like home, but knows too that home is found not in the too-small house or not-good enough neighbourhood, but in the way they tuck just perfectly under the leg of her beloved as she sits on their worn, leather sofa.

The owner of these shoes adamantly refuses to grow up or wear ‘grown up’ shoes. She cannot be trusted in heels, and may throw a wobbler if she is required to trade them in for a more appropriate alternative. She does not like dress codes, or ‘work wear’, or power dressing or fashion of any description.

The owner of these shoes is quite adept at getting them stuck in her mouth, tripping over her words as much as she does her own feet and somehow managing to never quite verbalise the words she would like to, although she can write as eloquently as you could wish to.

The owner of these shoes has a tendency to run and skip when she excited, enjoying the freedom of her muscles and the bounce of the ground under her feet.

The owner of these shoes has walked a hundred thousand miles, some admittedly slower than others, but always with a spring in her step and a sense of discovery. She is not afraid to let her feet do the walking and her head catch up a little way behind, or to take the road less travelled, venturing down forgotten paths and unexplored turnings.

The owner of these shoes does not take short cuts, preferring the scenery of the meandering path and knowing that she will always get there in end. They are used to being splashed through puddles, kicked through leaves, propped up on park benches as their owner sits with book on lap. They are not concerned with looking slightly worn or well-loved as their owner is both these things, having faded and been polished back to life over and over.

They will last a lifetime, just as she will.

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So now it’s your turn! What prompt did you choose?

1. Pictures of home: Go for a walk near where you live, and take photos of the things that scream ‘home’ to you.
- Inspired by Kelly and her beautiful early evening walk.

2. Blog about a button you pressed that you weren’t supposed to.
-Inspired by Laura ‘Are we nearly there yet’ and her Phantom Beeper

3. Find a picture of a shoe that best sums up your personality.
-Inspired by the lovely Gabfran and her shoe-related blog, and Jo Beaufoix’s ‘Special’ Shoes

4. Tell me about something precious you gave away.
- Inspired by the very inspirational Muddling Along Mummy who has become a breastmilk donor.

5. Write about the best (or worst) piece of advice you have ever been given.
- Inspired by ME! and all the fantastic advice you gave me this week.

Leave your name and the URL to your post in the MckLinky below (the URL should be to your post not just to your blog) andleave me a comment to let me know you’ve taken part. If you have the time it would be great if you could try and read and comment on at least two other entries. And be kind! It’s supposed to be a bit of fun – we’re not looking for the next Booker Prize winner here!

If you haven’t had chance to respond yet, then you’ve still got today! Or just wait till next week, when there’ll be five brand new prompts to get you thinking.

This Writing Workshop is brought to you in association with Mama Kat’s Losin’ It – who’s lovely author came up with the concept and runs her own workshop over in the U.S.

Posts Tagged "Writing"

Mood Swings

Writing Workshop #8 – Addictions and Epiphanies

Writing Workshop #7 – Claims to Fame and Guilty Pleasures

Writing Workshop: Red Shoes

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