Peculiar Actions for Creative People

Writers – and I think creative people in general – can be a peculiar people. Sometimes I think that it is because we can’t be bothered with what other people are thinking. Most of the time I think it’s because we have so much going on in our heads that we don’t even realize others think of us as unique.

I had one of those moments with my husband last night. It was just an hour before bedtime and the energy level in the house can reach monstrous levels as the boys try to fight getting tired.

The oldest son had tied a giant plastic spider to a long piece of yarn and invented a new game called “Kill the Spider” (which is much better than “Dodge Rock,” but that’s a whole different story). Armed with a fly swatter and a stick the two younger boys chased him through the house trying to kill the spider he was dragging behind him.

Keep in mind that my “office” sits smack in the center of the house. You can’t go from one room to the next without passing me. There are no walls around my space and the floor plan is also completely open, so the main rooms are all interconnected. You can hear everything!

I’m pretty sure that the boys were going past me repeatedly during there hunt only because I would hear them on one side of the house and then the other – like an distant echo in the back of my mind. My writing was focused and nothing was getting through. I had hit a creative streak and the words were just pouring out.

Later that night after we got everyone settled into bed, my husband looked at me (back at my keyboard) and sighed. “How do you do it?”

It took me a few seconds to realize what he was talking about and I had to laugh. I don’t know HOW I do it. I just know that often when I am writing I am able to let go of the reality around me and be transformed to a new location. The chaos that is going on around me does nothing to interrupt the trip – unless cries of pain or true distress are heard.

Being able to get into a world of my own is just one more reason that I’m not like everyone else. Releasing the confines around me gives me the ability to direct my energy on the words and not the reality. It is a great tool for my creative needs.

I know I’m not normal, and it can be wonderful living the peculiar life. It would just help if I was married to one as peculiar as I am.