My Head Hurts

For the past three months, I feared my creative muse would never return from vacation. I couldn’t get excited about writing or even tackling my winter ‘to-do’ list. January and February found me dealing with the shingles virus (yes, I had been vaccinated and it was probably because of the vaccine that the rash was extremely mild). Following shingles, I suffered from a terrible cough/cold (tested negative for flu and COVID). Both health issues prohibited me from my regular swims at STAC, and I’m not even mentioning the political climate. My head hurt.

All of that added to my apathetic mindset.

My head hurts!

I generated games to play with my dog using boxes, paper, and toilet paper rolls. I worked on jigsaw puzzles while listening to audiobooks (mostly mysteries, however, Cher’s memoir was quite good). I browsed Netflix for fantasy movies and comedy series.

I tried to stay away from the headlines. I made grocery shopping exciting with a digital coupon app. But headlines are everywhere and prices keep rising steadily. My head continued hurting.

On the evenings of days when I felt healthy, I reprimanded myself for not writing. But the muse was not to be found and my head still hurt.

And then, well, a fellow writer said, “That’s what THEY want.” And I thought about it. All the headlines, all the crap that was happening, yes, it was more powerful than the shingles' virus. But only because I allowed it to become more powerful.

So, I began with www.5calls.org .  My first two calls went to voicemail and I breezed through the script. Then a call to my House representative’s (Marilyn Strictland) office where someone answered the phone. I stumbled through the script and probably sounded like a dummy. But the next day, I was ready for a live person and when I called my senator’s (Maria Cantwell) office and got a live person, my voice was smooth, my speech clear. It continued to get easier with the bullet points given to me through the 5 calls website. And just today I spoke at length with a staffer in Senator Patricia Murray’s office. I signed up to receive notices about what these three women are doing. I am now following their official websites. I checked Olympia Indivisible and other sites to see what I might be able to do in the coming months. I feel empowered.

THEY (and you know who I'm talking about) aren’t going to win.

Within a couple of days, I dove back into Mixed Shorts, my second book. It will be launched on June 2, 2025. In fact, ebook preorders are now possible at www.amazon.com/dp/B0DY2JQZ2N. This week I’ll take a train to Seattle and spend time with my son as we finalize the cover for Mixed Shorts and then I’ll work on designing and ordering bookmarks because, by June, book events will be underway. My head stopped hurting....until...

Until last night's televised shit show starring our administration. And my headache (and heartache) returned.

Despite today's headlines, the sky is blue and cloudless. I’ll continue the phone calls. I’ll take my dog to the dog park. I'm back at the pool. ’ll finish editing Mixed Shorts so that it’s ready for you!

I won't let THEM win.

Look out, Here I come!