Spring Cleaning
I'm not a big fan of spring cleaning.
Truth be told, I'm not a big fan of cleaning (the act of) in general.
I acknowledge that it's necessary and it makes life more livable. But I don't go around looking for things to clean, dust, sort, straighten and otherwise meddle with. I'm a live and let live sort of person when it comes to, um, clutter.
Which is not to say I don't vacuum and dust and deal with it as it comes along.
However . . .
There comes a time, say, every twenty years or so, when it's time to paint a bedroom.
And if we're going to paint, we probably ought to put down new carpet. And if we're going to go to all that trouble, the mattress on the bed is pretty awful and isn't that a spring jabbing me in the back every night?
And, well, one thing leads to another (though I've tried telling Seb that to get him through this chapter and he just shrugs and goes back to his CAD program as if to say, That's your problem, not mine).
So I've left him to his CAD program and I'm stripping wallpaper.
Did I mention the wallpaper issue? Probably not. The wallpaper is, thankfully, only on one wall. It will be gone by noon tomorrow. I guarantee it. Then I can get the paint and call George my friendly retired school teacher painter person and say, The room is almost ready.
And that, of course, will galvanize me to get the rest of the stuff cleaned out, boxed up or thrown away. You'd be amazed at the books I've discovered that slipped off the cedar chest and are lurking behind it. Well, maybe you wouldn't be -- but I am.
And while I'm doing my painting, Seb will be doing his. Always nice to have art imitating life as well as the other way round. I started feeling a bit smug when I wrote that. And then I turned back to the chapter and discovered he's just showed up with a violin that belonged to his grandfather.
Where did that come from?
It seems to be staying. So I'm going to have to think about that. It will give me something to do while I clean.
Does cleaning inspire you with creative thoughts? Are you a Natural-Born Neat Person? If so, I'm really impressed.
What do you do to get creative juices flowing?
Cleaning the oven seems like overkill somehow. But what do I know? I so rarely try it!
posted by Anne McAllister at 10:53 PM
8 Comments:
I'm a neat freak. Guilty as charged. I often get a lot of harrassment for empty closets and drawers. No clutter, less cleaning. Less cleaning, more time to write. My overflow is in my shop. Do I hear spring cleaning? I didn't win the Instant Seduction contest, darn, but started a new story. A Greek hero. I looked on the internet lastnight to find the image of my perfect greek hero. Hard to do, but found and posted on my desktop for inspiration.
I'm envious, Patricia. I wouldn't harass you at all. I'd just be impressed -- especially with the fact that you can find things AND you have more time to write.
I'm glad you found a nice Greek hero on the internet. Hope you continue to enjoy him. What's his name?
Hi Anne,
By the way I loved your Irish hero, Flynn. I loved the story too. As a matter of fact I love all your stories. I've read them each and every one.
My Greek hero is Marios Lekkas, famous greek model, aka Alexandros Christou in my story Reclaiming His Wayward Wife.
Thanks, Patricia. Glad you loved Flynn -- and all the rest.
I'm going to check out Marios now. Thanks for that, too!
Hi Anne, to get my creative juices flowing, believe it or not, I dance. Dancing has always seemed to relax me, at times when I'm most stressed. Of course, I never do it when anyone is around to see it.
Since I just started writing, and I'm having a problem with the first chapter already, I've been dancing quite a bit. Now, if I can just put the ideas that I get in my head while I'm dancing, into my manuscript, I might just be able to get past the first chapter.
Good luck getting your creative juices flowing, and with your spring cleaning.
Mads:)
What a great idea, Mads. I wish I were inclined that way. I could burn off more calories than when I'm dusting, too.
I find dog walking very conducive to writing. When I have trouble with a scene, I go walk the dogs. Somehow trying out ways into a scene while I am miles from anywhere that I can write anything down is conducive to getting the words flowing. Then I just have to remember them all!
Neat? Snort. No, not me. Son looked at the pic accompanying the interview in my local paper and commented, 'That must be old because your desk has had loads of junk on it for ages.' Oh, dear...
I have Flynn as my carrot for finishing my current book :o)
Glad to know someone else's desk is piled up, too, Kate!
I hope you enjoy Flynn when you get to him. From your swiftness in general, I trust that will be sometime tomorrow morning???
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