Zen & writing
This time of year I say 'No' a lot. It's not that I don't enjoy parties. It's just that even a little chaos sends me spinning into random orbit.
To stay focused and able to write requires me to maintain a fairly peaceful (some may say boring) life. Spontaneity is not a strong suit. Boisterous activity creates an inner storm that may take several days to recover from, as far as writing goes.
I enjoy fun as much as anybody. It's just that to sit down and key in on a topic, and pull some meaning from it out of my limited cerebral resources, I need to be in a pretty settled mental state.
That may help explain why writers often have a reputation as hermits. Or even worse, grumpy hermits. For many of us, it's simply a matter of preserving our inner calm by protecting our surroundings from the madness of living.
Other times, we plunge full force into life. Those are not usually the times when we get a lot of writing done.
Always there is a balancing act between living and writing.
