Get Offline

I spend probably far too much time in front my laptop screen.  I love my laptop.  It gives me access to facebook, emails, blogs and it's where I do a majority of my writing.  Not to mention that I can do all of this sitting down, and with M.E. that's definitely a bonus.

But I try not to spend all day online or writing onto a screen.  For starters, it doesn't help the headaches/migraines.  And for the rest of it - I don't want to just live in virtual reality.  I want to live my real life in the real world. 

So the rest of the day I read, write by hand, rest, watch dvds (though I try not to do this too much either), talk, and lately I've been making sure that I go outside for at least a few minutes every day.  Fresh air is very good.  But mainly, I just try and live and notice everything.  As a writer I feel that, as much as I love words, it wouldn't be a great idea to live my life solely through words.  If I did, how would I know what real people do, what they want to know about, what they want to read?  So I go out into the world and people watch.  Or I just discuss anything with the people around me (like the tax cuts and VAT rise today).  This helps me to form opinions and use my imagination.  I'm certainly not saying I want to shove my opinions on anyone (though I guess I do with this blog - but you choose to read it) but I need to know what my opinions are.

And today my opinion is to remember that the real world exists.  You may be able to do everything from a computer now, but that doesn't mean you should.  Smell the grass, hear the lawnmower, taste your dinner, enjoy your senses and your life and your writing will be so much fuller.