Too Distracted

These days, I frequently see my social media contacts expressing the same sentiment: “I’m too distracted to write.”

In other circumstances, we might see our forced home-bound state as a perfect opportunity to write, with hours of free time to be creative. The problem is, our stress levels are high, as we try to figure out the logistics of feeding our families, staying healthy, and worrying about finding enough toilet paper!

Stress will cause distraction. Years ago, I remember sitting in the waiting area with my husband and sons while my daughter underwent brain surgery. We feared the outcome, knowing it did not look good. I remember glancing around, searching for my reading glasses. “Ben, where are my glasses?” My older son looked at me, then started to laugh. “Mom, you’re wearing them.”

Distracted. Stressed. Worried. It makes it nearly impossible to sit down and focus on writing. It’s like a self-protective mechanism in our brain, that wants us to be alert for danger, rather than spend time using our creative side.

My suggestion is to put your writing aside for at least an hour or so. Watch a funny movie. Call a friend who will uplift you. Read an entertaining book.

I just finished one of my favorite funny movies, “Bringing up Baby.” It’s an old B&W flick with Cary Grant and Kathryn Hepburn and it makes me deep laugh every time with the crazy antics involving a leopard named Baby.

A few other funny movies that I can never see enough of are “While You were Sleeping,” “Galaxy Quest,” “Money Pit,” and “The Princess Bride.” There are many more that will bring on my giggles as well.

Ever since I can remember, humor has been a great distraction for me during tough times. When my daughter was suffering from a brain tumor, we used to read aloud to her from James Herriott’s books. I highly recommend this author’s veterinarian tales from Yorkshire!

One incident that we as a family will never forget is when my mom was reading that book to my daughter. Please understand, my mom was very prim and proper. 😉 She got to a paragraph about artificial insemination of a cow. The more she read, the greater the details emerged, and the more uncomfortable Mom grew. I think I was the first in the room to snicker while trying to focus on my crocheting. Soon, the whole room was laughing with hysterics. I tried to control my laughter enough to offer to read that section to my daughter. She bravely adjusted herself higher in her chair and said, “No, I can read it.”

I can still remember it all with a huge grin, despite that tragic situation with my daughter fighting terminal cancer.

Humor is like that. It shifts our “fight or flight” thinking to a relaxed, creative state. After watching “Bringing Up Baby” today, I started to write this blog.

Even if you’re on a deadline, take a break to re-wire and relax your brain. The words may start to flow, unhindered.

Carry On. And wash your hands. 😉

Elaine Marie Cooper has two historical fiction books that released in 2019: War’s Respite (Prequel novella) and Love’s Kindling. Love’s Kindling was recently named a Finalist in the 2020 Selah Awards. It is the second book in the Dawn of America Series set in Revolutionary War Connecticut. Cooper is the award-winning author of Fields of the Fatherless and Bethany’s Calendar. Her 2016 release (Saratoga Letters) was finalist in Historical Romance in both the Selah Awards and Next Generation Indie Book Awards. She has been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul and HomeLife magazine. She also penned the three-book historical series, Deer Run Saga. Her upcoming release, Scarred Vessels,” is about the black soldiers in the American Revolution. Look for it in October 2020. You can visit her website/ blog at www.elainemariecooper.com