Sunday, 6 March 2016

Mini Menopausal Meltdown!

I mentioned in my last post (Yes, I know this was back in January!) that 2015 had been something of a stressful time; setting myself the target of getting two books finished that year as well as having lots of other stuff going on in my life - the day job, the continued effort of trying to lick my house into shape on limited funds, and dealing with what my Gran would have called 'being at that 'funny' age'.  I think we give it the more affectionate term 'the menopause' these days.  Now I don't want to be all dark and dismal, but to be quite honest the menopause sucks!  Mood swings have been marvellous things, I've been going from being happy, buzzing with idea's and inspiration to 'what the heck am I bothering with all this for?' at the flick of a switch. I know that writing can do this to you anyway; writing highs and lows are part of the process, but throw a few raging hormones into the mix and, well, lets just say it's probably a good thing I live on my own! There are no two ways about it I have been a grumpy old mare at times!
I'm not about to now tell you all the wonderful things I've done to combat this stress because, to be quite honest I haven't.  I've done what most people do, carry on regardless, but since my last blog post in January I have hardly written a word.  In my head the third and final volume of the Prudence trilogy is formatted and finished, but every time I sit down to actually write anything I end up staring at my laptop for about half an hour and then going off to make a cup of tea and not going back!  It probably doesn't help that Prudence is in a bit of a dark place in her story as well.
My sleep pattern seems to be all over the place too, hence why I am sat here at ten to one in the morning writing this post when I know that tomorrow, at work at about three I'll be desperate for a little re-charge nap.
 Getting back into writing will be the perfect tonic for me, that much is obvious but that is the common sense side of me talking and the hormones can be very argumentative when it comes to common sense. Who needs common sense when your hormones are quite determined that now is the time for a little unnecessary meltdown?
There have been some positives, it's not all doom and gloom on the writing front, some little things  have happened to stop me from giving up completely on the whole writing process( and a little encouragement goes a long way).  Recently a friend told me how she had gone to see her granddaughter and had arrived to find her curled up and engrossed in my book.  Little things like that mean so much.  It may seem trivial, but to me this was a real little person who was enjoying spending some time with Prudence, - what more could any writer ask for?
So here I am, digging in and trying to swim against the tide of my hormones!  If anyone has any hints about surviving the menopause with your sanity intact please let me know.  I'll be the one sat in the corner staring at my laptop and talking to the cat..............


Kim

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