Tuesday, February 8, 2011

True Confessions of a Snowbound Writer

I have been a very bad girl. (I'm grinning as I imagine eyes widening in great anticipation of reading a blog about my (mis)adventures into "bad girldom.")

Well, let me tantalize you by confessing that in my seven days of being snowbound, I have succumb more than once to at least three of the Seven Deadly Sins. (Definitions given below provided by Wikipedia - Seven Deadly Sins.)

1) Gluttony - over-indulgence and over-consumption - What is it about being snowed in that makes me so hungry? Is it a fear of running out of food, being stuck on top of this icy, snow-covered hill, unable to get to the grocery store for more? Is it boredom? Is it my empathy for the wildlife I watch from inside my wood-stove warmed home? I don't know what it is, but I've had an insatiable urge to nest, to cook, to EAT.


2) Sloth - laziness and indifference, failure to utilize one's talents and gifts - This is THE deadly sin for a writer. I can't believe with all of this spare time provided by the beautiful, tiresome snow, I haven't written a single morsel of a new story. What's the deal? How often during frenetic times of my life, have I longed for stretches of time that would allow me to write, write, write? Okay, I'll admit that I have done a bit of editing, but not one single new word have I been able to squeeze through my keyboard and onto a page. I've spent some time (time that I should have been writing) reflecting on reasons for my slothly ways. Restlessness? Yes, I do feel a bit like a caged animal, which makes it hard to concentrate. Lack of pressure? I do, after all, work best under pressure. I need a deadline! Perhaps I am a passive agressive writer. That's right. By not writing, I'll show . . . I'll show . . .who?



3) Wrath -  also known as "anger" or "rage" - GET ME OUT OF HERE!
Really, that's a slight exaggeration. I count my blessings to have such a warm, comfortable home in which to be trapped. But, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!





Three sins out of seven, huh? Maybe that doesn't quite qualify me as a bad girl.The remaining four sins are:

Lust!
Greed!
Envy!
Pride!

Okay, maybe I have succumb to one or more of the remaining four. But, those confessions will have to wait for another blog entry.

For now, as another 4-10" of snow ascends upon us, I am going to try to redeem myself - at least in my slothly writer ways. I will write. I will write. I will write.

2 comments:

  1. Oh my. Aren't you having fun?!

    I'm actually more productive when it's cold and snowing. I LOVE it. Could be those 10 months of being snowbound every year that led to that.

    Life in the Arctic thought me a few other things, such as:

    The chocolate supply is as important as the booze supply.

    And cold winter nights--which are 24 hours long for most of the winter--lead to lots of lust.

    Hey, there's not much else to do. :)

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  2. I too, must confess to gluttony and laziness. I began last weekend with powerful intentions of writing, but wound up working on taxes instead (what a dreadful task!).

    Today, I finally started on "The Path of Most Resistance." Wrote two whole paragraphs and rearranged the words several times.

    Then I got distracted and started thinking about some of them other sins . . .

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