%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |
 Well, not so much fun and leisure as...get some damn writing done, you fool! |
|
A while ago, I attended a writers' workshop and the lady who hosted it told us all to go away with this bit of advice - to write for just ten minutes a day. I was determined to go ahead with it and I did...for two days. So today I remembered that I'd resolved to do so and I whipped out my journal and wrote for fifteen minutes. I'm typing out pretty much the same thing that I wrote earlier, with some differences. I find I can go a lot more in-depth when I'm typing than when I'm writing by hand. Writing by hand is such a chore! I've struggled with loneliness a lot throughout my twenty-nine years. I struggled with it when I was the only one home with my mum when I was a teen and everybody else had other places to be. I struggled with it after marriage and when we moved into our own house for the first time. I struggled with it after my son was born and I felt torn between pursuing my writing and being a good mum, because my culture seems to indicate that a woman has absolutely no chance of living her own life - or at least, she has no chance of attaining any goals she hasn't already attained - once she has children. I feel it occasionally still, even though I get so little time to myself nowadays that any alone time is simply awesome. I've tried to come to terms with the idea that being alone isn't a bad thing - and a lot of the time, it isn't. My friends don't live nearby so I don't get to see them often, and even when I do, I feel like there isn't much depth to our conversations. I'm surrounded by people who do not think like me, who do not share any of my interests and hobbies. I feel like I've become desensitised to isolation. Loneliness is my preferred way to be. I walked into my college cafeteria at lunch today and it was the usual hubbub of activity. Youngsters walking around, chatting animatedly, shouting across the room, laughing, eating, socialising. I could recall how that clamour wouldn't have bothered me ten-twelve years ago, when I would have been one of the youngsters talking excitedly with her friends. But, as this moment, I just found an out-of-the-way little table and sat down. I watched the crowds for a while, wondering why it was only at moments like these that the sense of isolation became so strong. In the middle of a crowd, I feel most alone. |
| 21:27 This is a tricky one. Do to make guests leave my barbecue without kicking them out? Culturally, I think it's pretty much a taboo to tell guests to go. In fact, you ask them to stay when it looks like they're about to go. We're very big on hospitality in South Asia - not to say other people aren't, but I'm not that familiar with others' cultures as much as I am with my own. Even if you have plans to go out somewhere and guests arrive at that time, it's an unspoken rule that you will prioritize your guests over whatever you need to do or wherever you need to go. I guess if it's a life or death situation, you might get out of it...maybe. So, how to go about politely making guests leave? Drop hints as soon as they've eaten - "There's a lot of cleaning up to do! I best start getting on with it!" or "I think the little one needs putting to bed. It's quite late." That's the only way I can think of. I would never say anything to my guests approaching the question of when they're leaving. It just doesn't feel right. In other news, I'm hungry! I'm keeping the fasts that I missed over Ramadan. Trust me when I say it's a lot easier in the holy month! There's a community spirit and you know you're not the only one having to abstain. Right now, though, I'm on my own. Everyone else is eating and drinking as they please. I want to get a few more done and then maybe I'll put them off until winter, when the days are shorter. The idea behind fasting so soon after Ramadan was that there are still traces of the Ramadan routine so it wouldn't be that difficult. It hasn't been - it's just that I can't get up for the pre-fast meal on a morning anymore so I wake up hungry and then just get hungrier over the course of the day. But only a few minutes to go now! In fact, I'd better wrap it up and go prepare! 21:38 ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
)
