Update on my historical house and a bit of acceptance

This picture really belongs with Saturday’s blog; I’m not great at adding pictures and hardly ever think of doing it, so I’m making the effort today just to show that I’m trying to change! Anyway, these lovely shiny taps are the good side of Friday night/Saturday morning’s plumbing crisis. Unfortunately we can’t use them because the boiler has now stopped providing us with hot water and we are waiting for the boiler man to come on Friday. This blog is not meant to be a commentary on the challenges of living in a house that pre-dates Henry VIII but these occurrences are giving me plenty of practice in not worrying and finding something to be grateful for! (By the way, of course the plumbing doesn’t pre-date said monarch, as in those days they…well let’s not think about it too much but there wasn’t much in the way of plumbing… but the house does present challenges for any sort of modernisation and is constantly needing attention.) Perhaps my next picture had better be of the outside of the house!

Right, now to focus on what I am supposed to be talking about. Today I’ve ended up with over 2,600 words on acceptance, so I am underway with the draft of the book proper, rather than just bits of writing. I’m not entirely happy with it because it feels rather disorganised so that has reminded me to plan-plan-plan before I let myself get too carried away with writing. I did actually get round to making some voice notes while I was out on my wild and muddy dog walk; I didn’t remember the Dictaphone but worked out – on the hoof – how to make voice notes on my phone and it really worked. I was able to make a note of the ideas that came while I was walking (they so often do) and then transcribe them when I got home. I’m really pleased with that; it’s so frustrating when all these good ideas or moments of clarity spring into my head out on the marshes but they’ve gone again by the time I get home and get my wellies off.

It’s over a year since I was in the middle of writing something long, and at the end of 2011 it was my masters dissertation. But all those feelings of being immersed in something large are flooding back, and I’m guessing that, if I want to go on and on with large writing projects, or long stories, this is set to become a way of life. I read somewhere that being a writer is like having homework every day for the rest of your life. OK, yes, it sounds dire, but I actually have had homework for many more years of my life than most people would choose, and I have had to make a firm commitment not to go back into academia, so perhaps constant homework is less of a burden to me, or at least feels comfortable. It’s what I’m used to.

What I do need to work at, however, is being able to give my head a rest during the parts of the day when I am not writing and don’t need to be thinking about it. My brain needs to get refreshed sometimes but emptying it of all this stuff isn’t easy. A lot of what I need comes into my big project: being present, yoga and meditation, etc, so perhaps I just need to read my own notes again!

While we’re on acceptance, letting go, allowing things to be as they are, I’d love to hear your thoughts. For me, learning to accept reality just as it is has been a long process, and I still have to work at it, but I do know that nearly every problem or worry requires me to accept something initially unpalatable, and when I manage that, the situation improves. What have you learned to accept? What do you have trouble accepting? And what would you like to know or learn about being more accepting and being able to let go? Please let me know – I want to make this project as relevant as possible and I’ll try to address your issues. Meanwhile, I’m off to polish the taps…