The thing about writing in public spaces is that you have to be able to shut down the world around you. This is easier to do in public spaces because, for me at least, I don’t have a stake in what is going on around me. There are all kinds of distractions to a writing life. Often the ones that are most egregious are the ones that are the most personal. At home I can lose an hour tidying up while I am supposed to be writing. That tidying needs to get done. That text needs to be responded to. That game film needs to be watched. Those games need to get played. That sweet partner of mine needs to be kissed. Yet out in the bright confines of a breakfast spot all of the distractions are of the ‘don’t really care’ variety. None of the people have any real meaning in my life, so the stakes for paying attention are extremely low.
This is by no means a long-term strategy. I can’t afford to eat out in a crowd every day. Likewise I have yet to establish an office vibe that simulates white noise effectively while allowing myself to forget the dust in the corners or the cricket I absolutely need to murder. I continue to work hard at developing the writing in that space, but from time to time I need to get out, get a hard reset, and write some stuff.
Some Thoughts:
- I’ve written quite a bit about sadness and quitting the blog, etc. This is likely the result of a type of emotional co-dependence I’m happy to endure. I’m happiest when the people around me are happy; my partner most of all. I recognize that I need to maintain an emotional health/upside even when the two of us are out of balance.
- My Fry’s card didn’t work this morning and it messed me up more than a little. I’ve been reading and watching a lot of corp dystopia stuff that always has that scene where a character’s data gets flagged as unusable. That is some scary stuff…