WHAT'S IN YOUR HEAD? :)
By Valerie Hansen
Writers are a strange lot. If you follow any of us on social media or in print you already know this but I thought it might be fun to discuss how my mind works. To begin with, it's almost never quiet - unless I'm sick.
I awoke this morning with an old hymn running through my head. Don't know the name but "There to my sins was the blood applied, Glory to His name." Over and over again. Now, if I were totally OCD I'd have to pursue this song until I figured out what it was called but my squirrels rescued me. I can be a lot like the joke, "Of course I'm listening - Oh look! A squirrel!" Or a chicken. Take your pick.
Just the process of writing this blog post has set my imagination whirling. For all my teachers and those to come, I wasn't trying to be troublesome, I just had to chase a few of the wild squirrels racing through my brain and sometimes that meant missing part of your fascinating lectures. Seriously. Any room that had a window was deadly for me. One glance outside and I was a goner.
Let me see if I can illustrate. Sun. Um, warm. Beach. Sand. The feel of ocean waves lapping at my toes and the way the receding water slips under my feet and pulls away sand. Is there a rule for that? Grains of sand are pretty. Just like jewels. (picturing this) and the seaweed is icky. Except when it's growing. Seahorses in it. Swimming. Having live babies. Wonder if I could raise little seahorses like I do my mice for physiology class? Mice? Did I remember to feed and water? I must have. I always do. But maybe that's a false memory. No, it isn't. Well, it might be. What's it like to have amnesia?
And so on and so on.
As I have matured I've learned to control my rambling thoughts enough to put them to use creating fiction. Turning on the special feature isn't hard. Turning it off can be, however, particularly when I'm going through tough times. Here's where my Christian faith comes into play.
(I stopped here to look up the exact scripture) Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are noble, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things." Sounds good to me!
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ReplyDeleteVal, I’m very similar. My mind goes in multiple directions at once. I’m constantly doing something, like feeding the dogs, when the dishes catch my eye and I start doing dishes, forgetting that the dogs are waiting for their food. However they don’t forget and let me know I’m off track. Loudly. Lol.
ReplyDeleteI can go down the rabbit trail of research and forget what I originally was searching for. I have to be intentional if I want to accomplish anything.
Great post, Valerie. It's funny how we authors have so much going on in our heads yet somehow we manage to succintly put it in book form. I love your inspirational quotes. Very inspiring!
ReplyDeleteNice post and nice to see someone else with a similar brain.
ReplyDeleteI think authors are just wired that way. Great post, Valerie. Thanks for sharing and letting me know I'm not the only one.
ReplyDeleteThe writer's mind is an interesting place! :)
ReplyDeleteHa! I have a lot of those “squirrels” too, especially since I teach third grade part time and write the rest of the time. That’s a lot of squirrels!
ReplyDeleteVal, you know how my brain works—scattered!!! I don’t just have squirrels. I have their nuts!!! Always enjoy your posts and your cute word pictures!
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