Sunday 10 July 2016

When You Can't Write...

I need quiet to write.

Reality at the moment is that there's very little quiet available.

So I'm not writing consistently, and the second draft editing is on hold until I have a clear head again.

Lots of stress from assorted sources led to mild depression building, and last week I wasn't functioning at 100%, more like 20%. So I cut back to essential tasks, stopped feeling guilty for all the things I wasn't doing, and concentrated on me rather than everyone else.

I'm probably back up to 75% functioning now.

My mind has unlocked and is starting to formulate story ideas again- thank you Sally Quilford, your comment on Facebook hit the switch I needed rebooting... (Can switches be rebooted? :) )

Meanwhile I've slowly been working my way through my York visit photos, renaming, tagging and where needed cropping. (Windows 10 does not make the tagging as simple as it was in Windows 7.)

I've started some background reading for a future project too, and making notes on a completely different long-term non-fiction item. Both of these don't demand the degree of concentration my work-in-progress needs, and I can do them in short spurts.

Depression can happen to anyone at any time of their life from mild to severe, so if you're not sure if you're experiencing this, there's a useful self-assessment tool on the nhs website, here.

I hope to get back to my blogging routine in the next week...

Meanwhile here's a happy picture to make you smile.
T-shirt of a cat in a garden in a
shop window...
(The Cat Gallery)

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Carol - I hope you're functioning at full capacity again soon. Thanks for bringing up the subject of depression - too often it can be dismissed as not a serious problem. Continue being nice to yourself!

Teresa Ashby said...

75% sounds like a big improvement, Carol. Hope you are back to 100% soon.
I love the picture of the cat T shirt.
Take good care of yourself xx

Carolb said...

Thanks, Sally. Slowly improving...

It's surprising how many artists and writers experience depression, and hopefully depression is now being taken more seriously.

Carolb said...

Thanks, Teresa.

The cat t-shirt makes me smile, so that's good.

Sometimes I feel okay, and then I'll get a momentary dip, but I'm much improved on last week. :)

Susan A Eames said...

Glad to hear you're slowly overcoming your depression, Carol. It can be such a difficult illness to conquer - and it doesn't help that so many people don't understand how debilitating it can be and say silly things about 'snapping out of it' or the dreaded: 'chin up'!

Rosemary Gemmell said...

Hope you're getting back to full capacity, Carol - lots of things can contribute to such low feelings. Maybe you need to give yourself a little time off without guilt.

Wendy's Writing said...

Hope you're back on track very soon, Carol. Great T-shirt by the way.

Carolb said...

Thanks, Susan.

It is difficult for people who haven't experienced, or witnessed it, to know how to respond.

Carolb said...

Thanks, Rosemary.

Yes, time off without feeling guilty about it has been essential.

Carolb said...

Thanks, Wendy.

That t-shirt always makes me smile when I look at the picture. :-)