Last Sunday, the ambience lighting was perfect in my room as I prepared myself for a writing session. The sky was overcast, and there was a slight drizzle outside, as I set up my Mac, in all readiness, with the gentle strains of Chopin’s nocturnes (See below) playing in the background. Just perfect to rouse the muse and get me into my writing groove! To be in the right place ant the right time, ready to pore my heart out into the essay that I was going to write.
Just as I was half-way through the post, the doorbell rang.
Not a visitor!—my heart pleaded!
What else could one expect? It was the weekend and there wouldn’t have been a better time for people to come calling. Don’t get me wrong. I love having visitors at home. But, certainly, not when I’m in the mood to write.
The writer in me was definitely not pleased at this point. Nonetheless, I smiled and let the visitor in. A few minutes of small talk later, the family joined in. Having excused myself, at this point, I made a quick dash to my desk, eager to put down my post ideas, lest they get lost.
But, it was too late for that. It seemed that no sooner had I left my table to answer the door, my story ideas had also begun to march away, one by one. By now, I couldn’t recall the exact sequence in which I was planning to write my post. The tempo was lost and the post lay half-finished in the drafts folder.
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And then, this morning, a mid-week crisis hit me hard!
‘It’s Wednesday already! What??‘
When I looked at my desk calendar, it dawned on me that I hadn’t got down to publishing my #SoulfulSunday post for the week.
I guess this wake-up call was just what I needed to get back to my writing. The chores would have to wait today.
‘Get this out of your way’— I mumbled to myself, clearly outlining the deadline in bold—
I GOT TO FINISH IT NOW.
Thus began my free-write. I deleted the previous write-up and started from scratch. Tabula Rasa. Blank slate.
From being caught in a drought—bereft of ideas, I pushed myself into the cross-currents of the turbulence that was raging inside my mind over the past few days.
Thoughtful, pensive, happy, sad and reflective, by turns, I wrote my heart out, but only in my Morning Pages journal, that helped me give vent to my deeper feelings and emotions. I think I tend to share a great deal of my innermost feelings and emotions in my blog posts and this awareness turned out to be both good and bad for me. I was glad that I was purging my angst and pain through my words and sharing it, but, somewhere deep down, I also felt I was sharing too much of myself and that is something that I would like to change henceforth.
As I come to the end of my free-write post, I’d like to share a beautiful quote with you all:
“For me, becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end.”
—Michelle Obama
May you have a blessed week and may this be a productive and easy week for you.
Sending much love, light, hope and happiness to everyone stopping by the blog this week.
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Written as part of our #SoulfulSunday free writing exercise, along with my friends Vinitha and Shilpa.
Also linking up with Monday Musings hosted by Corinne at Everyday Gyaan.
I love Chopin and his music definitely provides a good mood for writing. Writing despite all the distractions is an act of bravery, don’t you think? 🙂
I love free writing. Not all of it is published obviously, but I love the way the words flow 🙂 I enjoyed this theme!
Thank you for stopping by, Damyanti. Yes, there is a certain sense of comfort with free writing. I think we all must keep doing it every now and then.
Happy Monday and a productive writing week ahead to you!
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Ha ha ha…I can so relate to your angst. It happens with me all the time. But the good thing is that you didn’t let the interruptions stop you. The fact that you finished the write-up deserve kudos.
You bet, Tina! It can be so bugging but I made sure I finished my writing because it was in my priority list, even if I wrote the post in bits. So good to see you here after a long time. Hope you had a lovely trip. Would love to hear all about it from you sometime.
Bhalo thakish and have a great week ahead.
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I can totally imagine your angst; to be interrupted just when the words were flowing, Esha.
I usually put my phone on silent when I write, everything else can wait.
Yes, and visitors who arrive unannounced especially when we are in the groove of things can be painful. But those are the travails of living in this world.
Soothing notes by Chopin. Thanks for sharing.
You have yourself a good week!
How lovely to see you here, after a long time, Natasha! I couldn’t tell you how frustrating it was, but I’m so glad I managed to deal with it with calm and got to finish my deadline for the free write too, so it wasn’t too bad. The challenge only made me more inclined to be focused at it. 🙂
Thanks much for the lovely wishes. You too have a beautiful week ahead.
Happy Monday to you.
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It is really frustrating when you have finally got into the mood to write and the words are flowing well and then there is that interuption. It always amazes me how quickly the words take a chance to disappear. This was a lovely read specially on a rainy afternoon with music playing in the background. The only difference is that instead of writing, I am taking this time to catch up on reading everyone’s posts.
Thanks so much for the kind words, Sunita. So good to see you stop by the blog. I’m sure you had a lovely time yourself, enjoying the rains whilst reading the blog posts. I must try it someday, actually. 🙂
Wishing you a blessed week ahead, Sunita, and a very happy Monday.
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Yeah I understand the struggle to write from the heart but also not share too much. Trying to find balance can sometimes disrupt the flow of ideas and writing. I have always loved how you can pen feelings so eloquently and gracefully.
On other note, people don’t call before they arrive. My house is never prepared for any unannounced visitor. There’s no snacks either. 😄
Writing from the heart has helped me unburden myself on the blog, Rajlakshmi! It has been both therapeutic and purgatory and yet, for the past few days, I’ve been pondering why I don’t write my innermost thoughts on the journal instead and write something different on the blog.
Would love to have inputs and suggestions on this from my fellow bloggers, yourself included.
Meanwhile, wishing you a Happy Monday and a beautiful and productive week ahead to you.
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Ah, I enjoyed reading this free write. There are times when I want the visitors to go away too. Finding that solitary spot to put thoughts down is much needed.
Totally agree with you, Rachna! There are times when I love to be alone…no visitor is welcome then. Sounds pretty awful, right, but then we all have those days, I guess and I realise now, that it’s ok to feel that way too!! 🙂
That solitary spot, as you call it, is my fuel, actually! Nothing is more welcome and keenly sought after, to be honest.
Happy Monday to you, Rachna and wishing you a productive week ahead.
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