Ever
have a morning where you just wanted to pull the sheets over your head and say
to hell with it? Yeah, yesterday and today were those mornings. And it’s all
because of allergies. Which reminds me of last week where I said all life was
connected. This is true and no more true than in the spring time.
Many
people are allergy sufferers and it used to be that I’d never count myself
among them. It wasn’t until I was over forty that the allergies hit me full
force. Only then did I realize just how much my brother had been affected all
our lives. He suffered from horrible allergies from a very young age and I
never understood the big deal.
When
I started to suffer from them I asked him if this was what he was feeling and
he told me honestly he’d felt that way every day of his life. See, when you
live in some place like Nevada, the seasons aren’t very well delineated and
that means there is something growing all year long. So, all year long, allergy
sufferers have a hard time. It was only when he moved to Idaho, a place with
four distinct season, did he feel better.
I
was even luckier because when we moved to Austria, it took me three years
before they came back full force. The first years I only maybe had a couple of
days to a full week of symptoms. Most of the time, I didn’t even have to take
any meds at all. This year, that all went away as a month ago, I started
feeling the effects but hoped it was something different. About two weeks ago,
I started with the nose bleeds that are so typical from sinus allergy
sufferers. I was extremely happy that I had my nasal medicine.
Then
yesterday, came the rest of the symptoms. All I wanted to do was stay in bed
and sleep. At home, it would take me up to three weeks to get out of this mode.
During this time, I feel lucky to be able to function at all. My mind is groggy
and life is hazy just like the smog hanging over Vegas in the winter time. I
guess it actually happens more often now. At any rate, even with meds, I just
want to curl up and not do a thing.
As
you can imagine, this makes writing difficult. Damn difficult and makes me
wonder if I’ve picked the wrong profession. Sure, since I do write so much, it’s
not going to hurt for me to miss a week or two. But if one is not careful, a
writer can get out of the habit of writing every day. And that is even when you’re
as passionate about writing as I am. I live, eat, sleep and breathe writing. I
couldn’t live if I couldn’t write. Yes, it means that much to me.
So,
to keep me going during these hard allergy times, I do other things to keep my
mental juices flowing. If I take to bed, I’ll lay there watching TV with a
notebook in hand to jot down anything I might be able to use. I’ll read and
just file things mentally away if something creates a spark in my mind. I never
just do nothing.
Sure,
there are times where I’ll just sleep because nothing else is working.
Matter-of-fact, I feel a nap coming on today…but the point is…that I will do
something that directly relates to my writing. Right now, if I can manage to
sit up I will work on some of the classes I’m taking. Yes, I take classes, lots
of them and I try to make sure I keep up with them.
I
take writing classes, like now I’m taking one on how to create a language, to
marketing and more. Writers need to be life-long learners because that makes
our writing fresh and open to change. Now I’m not saying that writers need to
change but we need to understand the market and how it works. Sometimes, that
will require a change in how we look at things and occasionally how we write.
So,
for now, I’m going back into my writing cave and try to do some research
because maybe in my allergy induced haze, I can make something of the ideas
that flow through my head. It’s my hope I’ve related just a bit of what it
means to be a full time writer. Until next week…
Lynn
