Sunday Selfie: Headhopping, Turning off the Brain and Wandering

So after several weeks of what felt like non-stop motion, I decided that once I had finished the key chores for the day I was going to relax on the front porch and read. At five o’clock, I poured myself a glass of wine and turned on my Kindle.

When I first started developing my writing and editing skills, it was excruciating. Not that it is a snap now. But it felt then as if every word was peeled from the skin on my fingertips leaving nerve endings exposed and raw. But like actual wounds the scar over and toughen up … a bit.

I have now reached the unfortunate place where I can NOT easily turn off the editor brain and just ENJOY a book. I am a headhopper’s worst nightmare. Even the “smallest” hop, sometimes one sentence in a

paragraph can be like fingernails on a blackboard (for those who know what I mean) to me.

My son, a filmmaker has said he has the same issue with movies.

Do musicians have the same issue?

How do you silence the inner editor voice, the inner and sometimes outer cringe.

So now I have a new task for myself that relates to stress management and long run success, turning off that part of the brain so I can just relax and enjoy and create.

Creating is different from editing… obvious right? When the brain locks into editing I think it stifles the ability to wander through the forest of imagination, leaving the path behind until you find the story that becomes a new path.

But then there arrived the wonderful distraction of messages from Sean. They definitely take me off the path and into the forest. Thank you Sean.

So that’s all the Selfie for this week. I’m going to go read for a while and watch Outlander...again.  Dinna Fash.  

 Where was I again?

Oh yeah... forest of imagination.