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Being Well

Pushing on with my writing journey

By January 8, 2013January 14th, 202010 Comments

My house from the frontI’ve taken notice of what so many people have said and here are more photos! The top one is the front of the house as it is today – our bit consists of the four windows and front door on the left; apart from the fact it’s attached to next door, it looks like a symmetrical type of child’s drawing of a house, I think. From the front it doesn’t look that old, but the picture below shows you the back, taken in summer time, and from that one you can see it is quite ancient. When my son was a lot younger, his friends used to say it was like the Weasley’s house in the Harry Potter films. When I get round to some photos of the inside (have to tidy up first!) you can see that even more clearly.

Back of houseToday I’ve been holed up in my tiny office (downstairs front window on the right) transcribing interviews and reading through all my notes. It occurs to me that I really do have an awful lot of material, and I’ve got in touch with my writing coach, the gorgeous and unique Lisa Lister, to try and arrange some time to talk through the best way for me to organise it all. I know that I am very capable of writing a lot in a short time when I know where I am going, so clarifying my direction will be really helpful.

This brings me to today’s question. I’m basing this book on my own journey from being a chronic over-thinker and professional worrier, to the person I am today who actually worries very little. It’s not really short of miraculous and I know that what I have to share is really valuable. Although I want and need to base it on my own journey, and am very happy to talk about my feelings and failings, I can’t reveal the details of the main issues that started last year, however, because they involve family members, legal issues and other people’s personal stuff. I could potentially upset people rather a lot and cause ill-feeling, which is the opposite of what I want to do. So the question is, does it feel as if there is something important missing when I talk about my worrying and anxiety but don’t describe the exact circumstances I was worrying or anxious about? I really value everyone’s comments, whether right here, via social media or email, which ever you prefer. Thank you.

10 Comments

  • Nadine says:

    Gorgeous home X

    No I don’t think not knowing the cause of your worry will detract from the book or writing at all. All our worries are in perspective of our own life so if you said it was eg losing a job then to some that would be the worst thing they could think of and to others it would be ‘what’s the fuss’. What’s more important is the understanding of where it took you to in your life, your mental state and your health etc. in fact knowing the cause would only lead people reading to project their own map of the world and beliefs into your story so best left out anyway.

    Looking forward to inside pics now… Old houses are so interesting as I have only ever lives in newish ones. Our current one is the oldest and the most challenging and that was built in 1960s !

  • did you say that house predates Henry 8th?
    As for your subject, no, it doesn’t necessarily detract, but would it be better to have as much detail as possible? Yes, but if circumstances dictate otherwise, then don’t worry about it (did you see what I did there?)

    Cheers,
    Gordon

    • Harriet says:

      Yes, absurd as it sounds, it is supposed to date back to 14th Century. Of course there have been rather a lot of alterations since then! Yes, I did see what you did Gordon!

  • Amanda says:

    Hi,

    I found your post via the blogboos hashtag on Twitter.

    I don’t think that by leaving out certain details when you write about your anxieties/worries means that you’re missing something. Sometimes, if you include those details, you could upset a lot of people, which is going to cause more anxiety and worrying, so it’s best just to leave them out, and maybe write more fully in a private, offline journal.

  • I am sure there are some creative ways to get around this. What about taking similar types of situations others have faced and using their version instead of your own?

  • lena says:

    I think there’s no problem if you don’t say why you were worried, people will probably be more interested in the solutions ;)

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