Got to tidying the desk in the bedroom today.  Have been writing at the kitchen table for a while now, mainly because of the heat and glow of the stove.  Being in the right place is important for me.  I know I should be able to write anywhere, and if I get ideas or need to take notes I can generally do this.  But, when I have the hours set aside, when I sit down to work, I need to have everything just so.  Tidy house, desk perfectly organised.  Sounds anal and a bit OCD (my mother would be sooooo proud) but really it’s not.  I used to rebel against this…..my good God but I was a creative genius! What else would there be around me but poetic mayhem and artistic chaos! Did Hemingway worry about the unwashed breakfast dishes, or the dirty clothes that needed tending to???..I think not!!  But alas, no matter how I tried it just wasn’t me. Plus with kids in the house you have to make some effort – cos they expect to be fed everyday (How selfish!) and they need clean clothes too (sheesh!). In order to write, I need to get all the menial tasks out of the way, clear them out of my mind so I am free to think of nothing but the writing.  Which, if you think of it, makes sense.

And the desk was my little haven, my creative corner.  This corner has of late become a little cluttered and dusty so today I decided to get it sorted.  Desk polished, notice board cleared, drawers sorted, pens and stickies lined up,  lights hung (have a little obsession with lights especially fairy lights…wicker heart ones in the kitchen, multi-coloured chinese lantern type ones in the girls’ bedrooms and now small white lights hung along the wall beside my desk 🙂 ).  I used to think this was me avoiding the writing but it wasn’t.  It’s how I operate.  Not everyone does or could, but I do. And it works for me.

All the stars are lining up lately. Getting back to my desk is another addition.  I don’t expect to build my constellation overnight but, I know, with love and belief (and some work thrown in!) that  someday I will lie on the warm grass and watch it dance in the sky above me.

Debs

ps – word count 535. I’m giving the fairy lights credit for this one!