Reality Check

When I was young I could go into fights of fancy at a moment’s notice or no notice at all. These days I find I can still wander off into la la land simply by contemplating how to spend the 6/49 winnings.  More often than not however I have my feet firmly on the ground which can be a real inhibitor to creativity.  I picked up a book entitled The Creative Life in the hopes of getting a little direction on how to get my imagination back on track only to be disappointed by a narrative about a play.  Not what I was expecting or hoping for.  The older I get and the more authors I note with more than one book to their name, the more respectful I become.

       So now the reality check comes in, the one where I forgive myself for not being creative enough.  Even as I write I am watching the clock on the computer count down to 4:30 a.m. and I am still in pajamas and not finished my daily blog.  I have to clean up, get dressed and be out the door before 5 a.m. to get to the unreserved parking by 5:40 at the latest or I will be in danger of not having a parking spot.  Then I slug away at my job until 3:45 when I take an overcrowded train back to the parking, drive another 40 minutes home where I embrace my mother who has thankfully prepared supper for us after which I flop on the couch to decompress by watching the Young and Ridiculous.  After supper I go out and cut some grass, pull some weeds or haul away some dead branches.  There’s always something to do in the garden and if I don’t keep up it will become a jungle.  I try not to look at the back 40 which has become a jungle.  By 8 a.m. I am ready for bed where I will do a crossword or Sudoku and then read for a few minutes before I konk out.  If I was a dedicated creative writer I would instead be composing the ultimate novel, wouldn’t I?

       People do.  That’s the thing.  People stay up until midnight and still get up at 5 or 6 a.m. but I am not one of those people.  I cannot survive on less than 7 hours sleep and my reality is that I can comfort myself with the fact that I am well balanced, well rested and calm most of the time.  Reality check, I am a dabbler but mostly I can have some fun with it.

       So there.