A moonlit walk by the beach is just what the doctor ordered for this stressed writer, BUT.
Don’t get me wrong, the breeze over the water was nice. It felt good to really stretch my legs after a long time. Working on a deadline usually means I spend more time butt-in-chair than butt at the gym. Which leads to piling on the pounds.
So I’m glad I did 12,000 steps today, I am. Also glad I got in a long walk after a meal. 2.5 miles isn’t a lot, but it’s better than nothing.
What got me back on the cortisol train was the view.
The horizon, in particular, lined from one end to the other with ships.
The Singapore port is busy at all times of the year, but right now the sea around Singapore, not just at the port, looks like a street crossing in Tokyo during rush hour.
It reminded me of why they’re all stalling here. Why ship traffic is backed up. Why my family back in India is struggling to get cooking gas. Why prices are rising all over the world.
Decisions made elsewhere have sent the whole world into a tailspin, and in a globalized economy the most powerless suffer because the most powerful want to fight wars of choice.
What’s the month of March looked like for you? As a writer, how do you keep writing stories in a world gone mad?
This post is part of an event held each first Wednesday of the month: Insecure Writer’s Support Group. Founded by the Ninja Cap’n Alex J. Cavanaugh, the purpose of the group is to offer a safe space where writers can share their fears and insecurities without being judged.
The awesome co-hosts for the Jan 7 posting of the IWSG are Melissa Maygrove, Cathrina Constantine, Kate Larkinsdale, and Rebecca Douglass! Please go and visit them if you like.
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Every day I’m more disgusted by the actions of our president. I hope and pray this war ends soon.
I’m glad you were able to get some exercise. I’ve been trying to take better care of my body after being lax about it for awhile. I feel so much better when I move.
Iran threatening nuclear weapons has put a damper on everything. Hoping this is wrapped up soon.
I loved my 10 years in Singapore before transfering to a university in the Philippines. It is such a unique country with so much to do and the best of foods and the scenery is spectacular. I envy you your walks there. Yes we have some clowns in government around the world today causing us a lot of ruin. Hopefully there will be someone with common sense to get us all out of this mess soon.
March is mud season for us, although we hand an unusual number of snow storms this March. I’ve stay sane by writing poetry. The abbreviated from with an emphasis on metaphor and precision of language requires close focus, which blocks out the other stuff for a while—even though the metaphors end up being metaphors for the current hatred, bigotry, and sadistic cruelty perpetrated by a cadre of creatures intent on destroying the US and taking no quarter.
It won’t help, but I apologize for the orange monster who has taken upon himself, against everything I thought my country stood for, to start wars and other stupidities globally, because he can.
Once we get rid of him, I hope we as a nation will be smart enough to reinforce all the protections that used to be covered by ‘gentlemen’s agreements’ between our parties, and which he has trampled delightedly into the mud, because he can.
Even LAWS and JUDGES and JUDICIAL DECISIONS are being ignored – after he filled the Supreme Court empty spots with toadies to add to the toadies already there – some of whom have no morality or sense of right and wrong (and happily accept gifts and perks).
I wish I could say to each of the people he has harmed, and their families, that there is a way back – but I don’t see one.
Meanwhile, I am STILL chronically ill AND mobility-disabled and have only a tiny amount of time some days to write with. Doing the best that I can just doesn’t seem enough any more.
Added to that, a hacker into all our accounts, so we’re having to deal with changing all our financial accounts, and have already lost money. AARGH!
We don’t have a choice. We have to try to deal with it every day. But it’s grinding me into useless dust.
“As a writer, how do you keep writing stories in a world gone mad?”
Good question. I have no answers. I wake up every day, my brain exploding in rage at headlines, my heart breaking a little more for the cruel insanity that has the whole world in a death grip right now. How can such a small group of people hold so much power that they hold the entire world hostage? And what can we do about it? This is probably the same question asked every time this happens. Because, make no mistake, this is history repeating itself, over and over. When will humanity learn if each generation must go through this in some way on a cyclical basis?
I think it helps to write about the problems. Even if it’s just journaling, it’s cathartic to spill your thoughts about it, honestly and openly. Of course, if you are in a position to change something, then by all means, positive change is needed. But most of us are powerless to make policy. Most of us … the best we can do is show up for other people within our sphere of influence. Seeing or hearing someone else protest can offer courage for others to speak up in protest. For those of us who create, we can give voice and sight to empathy, compassion, and courage. Those who are strong need to defend those who are vulnerable. The lies, the corruption, the secrets need to be dragged into the light and exposed. Pluralistic societies will always outnumber the few elites in power when unified in their cause. And if any among us are gifted at thinking up solutions, we need to be willing to explore new paths, too. (After all, it is the status quo that gave these corrupt leaders their power. We need different systems to prevent it from happening again.)
Because even if it gets worse before it gets better, we will eventually need new and revolutionary solutions. Nothing lasts forever — not even wars. But they leave scars that last for generations. So we need healers, forward thinkers, and creators, so that humanity can dare to move beyond the worship of power and wealth in the future. But until then, we need to think of ways to offer each other real hope in the form of connection, knowledge, and whatever we can forge or offer aid in through our individual talents. Sometimes that can be as simple as a poem or story, or a blog article, or a comment offered in passing; even it doesn’t seem like much in the big picture, if it can touch or lighten or comfort one heart, then it was a good use of time and words.