{"id":653,"date":"2012-01-18T06:00:50","date_gmt":"2012-01-18T12:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/?p=653"},"modified":"2012-01-18T06:00:50","modified_gmt":"2012-01-18T12:00:50","slug":"im-a-leaf-on-the-wind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/?p=653","title":{"rendered":"I’m a Leaf on the Wind"},"content":{"rendered":"
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So that's where the smell is coming from. The milk is expired.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here\u2019s a secret: I have no routine. I have no fixed place and no scheduled time. I\u2019m a decent wife. I get up with my husband in the morning, make coffee, feed the furry people, throw together lunch for Mr. Miracle to take to work. At eight, he\u2019s out the door, and my routine for the day ends.<\/p>\n

If I have a deadline, I write in short, efficient spurts or long, drawn-out sessions that leave me exhausted. If I don\u2019t have a deadline, I write for a bit, wander around thinking I should do some laundry, get distracted by the mystery of what\u2019s smelling up the fridge, and come back to write some more, leaving the mystery unsolved.<\/p>\n

The writing could occur on the sofa, at the kitchen table, up in my office, or at any number of local coffee shops and restaurants.<\/p>\n

I do not shower, brush my teeth, or even remember to eat at the same time each day. Those things tend to happen in between other things. I may unconsciously do the pee-pee dance for an hour before I become aware of the need to run, not walk, to the bathroom.<\/p>\n

I am oblivious to the world, and I have no fixed pattern. When I have something to write, most everything stops except for the voices.<\/p>\n

Once upon a time, I couldn\u2019t write in public. Hell, I couldn\u2019t even write if someone was in the same house with me. Even alone in a closed room, if I thought someone might be listening to my fingers clacking (or worse, not clacking) on the keyboard, I froze. (True story.)<\/p>\n

This is why it took me so long to learn how to finish anything.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve grown up. Not only can I write in a crowded restaurant, thanks to the amazing people on this website, I can write with an entire room of other writers sitting right next to me. On both sides. I don\u2019t even care that they can see my screen. This shy little flower is now a big, fat writing exhibitionist.<\/p>\n

Come see me write in the middle of the grocery store. I\u2019ll totally do it. Set up a table for me in the middle of the dairy aisle. We\u2019ll call it performance art. Tack up a sign that says \u201cWill Write for Cheese.\u201d<\/p>\n

But I digress.<\/p>\n

I know I make it sound like I\u2019m all \u201cleaf on the wind\u201d about writing. But seriously, don\u2019t expect me to be functional in the morning \u2013 and by morning, I mean before ten, despite having been up for hours.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t ask me to write by hand. I can\u2019t do it. My hand cramps up. I can\u2019t read my writing. I get fidgety in my chair. I think faster than I can write, so I get frustrated. (I type far faster.) Most of all, I hate seeing something so permanent as words on paper. How can I take it back if it\u2019s already written down?<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t write without knowing ahead of time where the story is going. I have to have a drink near me. I need my mouse because I hate the touch thingy on my laptop. If there\u2019s music playing it can\u2019t have any words because I\u2019ll get distracted and start singing.<\/p>\n

So, no, I\u2019m not as easy going as I\u2019d have you believe. One thing at a time. At least I\u2019m not shy about writing anymore. And I can finish what I start now, so there\u2019s that. The other things, well, I\u2019ll get around to fixing them eventually.<\/p>\n

For now, I\u2019ll just be happy if I can figure out what\u2019s going on at the back of the fridge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s a secret: I have no routine. I have no fixed place and no scheduled time. I\u2019m a decent wife. I get up with my husband in the morning, make coffee, feed the furry people, throw together lunch for Mr. Miracle to take to work. At eight, he\u2019s out the door, and my routine for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[959],"class_list":["post-653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mechanics","tag-routine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}