Okay, it’s been two-plus weeks since my surgery; my oncologist would get tremendously upset with me if I were to say, “since he gutted me like a fish,” – because, apparently, it’s self deprecating… so I won’t say that. It’s been fifteen days since my surgery (albeit only four since that teensy weensy oozy setback) and I keep feeling like I ought to be back to writing by now. Except that (yes I know this is a sentence fragment; hey, I’m under the influence of Percocet, leave me alone, okay?) every time I begin to think about writing, I decide it’s time to take another nap.
Well, I guess I should enjoy them while I can – the naps, that is. I mean, I seriously doubt my employers [no matter how fond they are of me] would not take kindly to me snoozing beneath my desk. Kind of evokes odd memories of George Costanza from Seinfeld, doesn’t it?
I had been hoping to rejoin the working world this coming Monday… but that depends on a number of factors:
1) whether I’m feeling sufficiently energetic after my followup appointment with the doctor that day;
2) whether my darn company-issued laptop plans to cooperate and recognize the VPN this time (hey, the ubiquitous “they” always tell us the third time’s the charm); and
3) whether the words will actually cooperate and come out to play when I call upon them – and not just spend the afternoon lollygagging about in my cranium until I threaten to coax them out with a crowbar. Okay, so I wouldn’t really do that; who in her right mind (write mind?) would use a crowbar to dislodge adjectives and prepositions? Everyone knows you’re supposed to use a small claw hammer.
What? You were expecting additional factors? Wasn’t three enough for you? I distinctly said it depended upon “a number of factors”; is three not a number?
Okay, okay… in case you find yourself in desperate need of a fourth factor, how’s this grab ya?
4) whether “Take a nap” supersedes everything else on my to-do list.
It occurs to me that each of those four factors may be boiled down, in essence, to one overarching reason: Good writing cannot be forced, cajoled or bribed. When it’s not the right time, it’s not the right time. Period.
That said, it’s probably time for another nap.
The Persnickety Proofreader 
Your a real person, not just lines on
On a page. Thanks for sharing part of your life. I’m reminded I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me Philippians 4:13 in the Bible,
Thank you,
Stay well
Toni
Thank you, Toni. I’ve always felt one key to being a good writer is the ability to convey a real sense of humanity. I, too, can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
On February 4 I will celebrate being eight years cancer free; those days of recuperation I wrote about seem so far removed… although I do still enjoy a good nap now and again.
I appreciate your kind words, Toni.
[…] opined about them… yet. But give me time and I eventually will. I was going to say “writing in one’s own time,” along with a variety of topics in between. Some posts have been rants, others I wrote […]