It's The Little Things...

I love the way the sun reflects on our living room wall, filling the room with light. I can go from feeling low, to being bright as soon as I enter the room.

I love to sing. I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember. For stress relief it’s amazing.  The tension ebbs out of me, and I feel like I can take on the world. Music is a big part of my life, and it’s a place I go when I need to escape.

Watching snow fall is one of the most calming things there is. I wish for it regularly because it’s a great leveller. No one else can move properly either! I think it covers normality (or what people perceive as normality), with a beautiful white blanket – at least for a little while.

New notebooks of all shapes, colours and sizes. People closest to me know that if they want to buy me a present (besides chocolate or wine) then a notebook or pen is their safest bet!

I get a sense of promise from a pristine notebook. I know that I can fill it with anything I choose. There is always a notebook with me.  

I think most people who write,( or otherwise create something) need somewhere to put the random sparks that fly through their mind - even if the ideas come to nothing, at least they're there.

That brings me on to writing. I could go on forever about this – in fact I have in other places. Here though, I’ll try and be brief. I wrote my first short story when I was eight. Even before that I was asking my Mum to take notes from books on different subjects, so I could write my own versions.

Writing is my constant. I guess it is another form of escape. Whatever situation – physical or emotional state I have been in I know I can go somewhere else, either in my imagination or with a paper and pen.

There is a sense of satisfaction in knowing that I can create something from nothing –another world even, and if I do it right I can take other people with me too! I can try and help them understand things, and feel things.

I have always thought the best writers are the ones which can evoke an emotion or a sensation in the reader, and really connect with them. I hope to do that on some level, (at least sometimes)! There is nothing like the buzz I get when I write, or finish a piece (and I’m finally happy with it)!

Spending time with people I love - Suppose you could say that's an obvious one, and it is. I'm a ‘home bird’. While sometimes I  think I want to travel more and experience new things, I know I’m just as happy being at home, and having a long chat on a Saturday night or drinking wine and reminiscing.

Time with people they love is denied to so many and it is like treasure to me. That probably sounds soppy,  but  if you have got people who love you, (and you love them), you have got the world...and no, I haven’t been drinking I promise. It’s just the truth!

Tea is my ‘wonder drug’! If I’ve had a horrible day the first sips of tea slip down my throat and I can feel (at least some of) the strain leaving me. There is something lovely about cradling a warm mug, especially on days when it’s raining or bitterly cold outside.

I’m so grateful for my home. As soon as I step through the front door, I feel safe, warm and wanted. I can be entirely myself. There are no expectations here, no demands, no feeling of not being good enough. 

There’s just my husband, and I. It’s our space. Maybe this too seems obvious but with homelessness rising, I’ve become even more grateful for it than I was before. It’s a place of calm and quiet. 

Material things don’t matter ,at least not to me, and we have all that we need. What matters to me is peace. I find that here.

 

#helenswriting

Image - Google