I’ve been struggling this week – well a couple of months really – trying to keep from drowning in anxiety. News and social media has bombarded us with images of recent horrific events and celebrity deaths. More recently there have been almost-tragedies closer to home. My mind has been chattering away, creating worst-case scenarios, second guessing, panicking me into petrified inactivity.
One of my triggers is empathy. I find myself crying (I mean really bawling my eyes out) over news stories – a lost child (their parents must be worried), a car crash (and the devastation of those left behind), a terrorist attack (how could someone hate others so much). The pain manifests itself as palpitations, muscular spasms, migraines… The list goes on.
It’s one of the reasons I had to quit my old career. I’d come home and worry . I’d worry about my patients, worry about missing things, worry about dealing with the company powers-that-be. I’ve tried cognitive therapy, relaxation, mindfulness and hypnotherapy. (I reacted badly to meds.) But it is difficult to turn off the reason why I started that career and the very thing that spurred me to stay in the job, years longer than I should have.
Writing helps. I can channel that empathy. How do my characters feel? What will they do? What was the thinking behind that? But sometimes it gets all too much. Even the writing freezes up.
Then I retreat into books and get lost in their pages. But even that escape has been thwarted recently. When I was ill I tripped, damaging my spectacles. As a result, reading is a chore and brings on migraines. (Have you tried reading with askew progressive lenses? argh!)
So it’s plan B for now. I have a list of vaguely-writing-related movies – some inspiring, some just a bit of fun. Some are, well, dubious but, nevertheless, contribute to pulling me out of my funk. Yesterday I pried open my current WIP box and picked up a pencil.
I thought I’d share my current list with you:
- Anonymous
- A man for all seasons
- Eat, Pray, Love
- Ghostwriter
- Confessions of a Shopaholic
- Bright Star
- Cinderella Pact
- The Devil Wears Prada
- Inkheart
- Julie and Julia
- Authors Anonymous
- Music and Lyrics
- Shakespeare in Love
- The Rewrite
- Becoming Jane
- Miss Potter
- Under the Tuscan Sun
- Bridget Jones Diary
- Never Been Kissed
- Little Women
- Love Actually
- Paperback Hero
- Sliding Doors
- So I Married An Axe Murderer
- Sleepless in Seattle
- Romancing the Stone series
- Magic Beyond Words: The JK Rowling Story
So now you know one of my deep, dark secrets. Please don’t judge me.