Yesterday was a weird day, and it took me a while to realize that it seemed weird because everything had been off for the last ten days or so; the same day Paul left for his trip was the same day my supervisor at work went out with COVID. Now they are both back and I have to get used to it again. I didn’t sleep great Sunday night–I slept in Sunday morning later than I usually do and I drank a Coke late, just before bed–and so I was a bit tired and drug out yesterday morning, and my mind wasn’t the finely tuned (ha!) machine that it usually is. I also had to rush home after work because I was expecting a delivery and the window was 5 to 7; and I am always afraid I am going to miss those deliveries. I hate that.
And of course, as soon as I did get home, I kept checking the delivery status. At 5:11 pm it was still “in progress.” Which meant–given the time of day and the way traffic dysfunctions in New Orleans, there was no reason to be concerned or worried about getting home in time ti begin with. But I wasn’t able to get anything done during the time I waited for the delivery–which finally came at 6:30–because I was afraid I’d miss them.
Anxiety is not my friend.
But knowing it’s something I inherited from my mother–she was anxious about everything and worried constantly–has finally made me more aware of how bad my own is, and how bad it has been my entire life. I just thought it was the way everyone was, and occasionally marveled at people who never worried about anything. When Dad told me that Mom suffered from constant, sometimes crippling anxiety, the proverbial lightbulb went on over my head, and I thought that explains everything about you that you never really quite grasped before. I worry I’m going to be late. I worry I’m going to be early. I worry about everything, and yes, sometimes it’s crippling to the point where I can’t do anything. I’ve developed work-arounds, or coping mechanisms, as my former therapist would say, to deal with it and most of the time I can keep it under control–but I also can remembering my mother fidgeting nervously…and I do the same thing. Knowing that my brain is wired wrong–and that it isn’t my fault–has been kind of a relief in some ways, and makes me understand a lot that I didn’t before. Like I said, I’ve never known what it’s like to not have anxiety, to not be anxious about something (anything, everything) and never worry about things, so it just seemed like this was my normal. I mean, it is still my normal, but I know it’s not? I am not making sense. Perhaps I should have had more coffee before attempting this?
Meh, whatever.
But yes, I was off-balance and not firing on all my cylinders yesterday, and as such got no writing done. I did some more research on a new project that was inspired by an in-progress blog entry I have yet to finish, and working on said entry made me think you know you’ve always wanted to write about this and so, in lieu of any new writing last night, I spent the evening–my writing time–researching and realizing how incredibly free writing this could be; because despite its being historical in nature, the era being written about would be so long ago no one could really cite me for getting things wrong–who knows the period well besides scholars who wouldn’t read it anyway? Anyway, it’s taken my fancy and I’ve started looking into it, and there really isn’t much there; much of it can be made up, imagined…there are lots of blanks to fill in, and that could really be a lot of fun. I probably won’t be writing it any time soon–book ideas generally percolate for years in my brain, and over the years I do more research whenever I think about it, trying to be ready for the time when I am finally able to sit down and start writing it. This is the fun part for me.
And I could use some fun about now. This heat is really breaking me.
I think I slept better last night–I feel better and more awake, more lively, more together this morning; at least certainly more so than I did yesterday morning. We’ll see how the day progresses, at any rate. I managed to get some things taken care of yesterday that were odious and things I always put off: I made an eye exam appointment, ordered some things that I need, and sent some emails I’d been putting off. I need to update my to-do this for this week, though; I also need to look at it every morning so I know what needs to be done, you know? But hopefully tonight–since nothing is being delivered and I have errands to run on the way home–I’ll be able to get settled in once I am home, put away the groceries and the mail, etc., and put the dishes away and reload the dishwasher to run. My, what an exciting life I lead. But tonight I am going to run some errands on the way home (mail, groceries) and then I’m coming home and I am going to try to work on my writing a bit, whether it’s a short story or diving back into the WIP–which has mistakes I want to correct before I move on; it’s how my mind works at this stage and yes, probably procrastination plays some part in that mental process…
And on that note, I am heading into the spice mines. Have a lovely Tuesday, Constant Reader, and I will check in again later.
ITW will announce the winners at 
Queer and Loathing in America 