{"id":534,"date":"2009-06-22T10:47:24","date_gmt":"2009-06-22T18:47:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/publishingblog\/?p=534"},"modified":"2009-06-22T10:47:24","modified_gmt":"2009-06-22T18:47:24","slug":"writing-from-a-broken-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/publishingblog\/?p=534","title":{"rendered":"Writing From a Broken Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been absent for a few days. I hope my useful, informative, insightful blog posts were missed. I haven\u2019t felt much like working for several days. First, I had some sort of summer cold and was feeling more like crashing on the couch than blogging, editing or anything else pertaining to work. Ever feel like that?<\/p>\n

Then came my birthday. I cancelled my birthday celebration because I didn\u2019t want to infect my mother, aunt, sister, daughters or anyone else. <\/p>\n

As some of you know, I love cats. This year, I started a new blog related to cats and came out with a book of true cat stories. http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades<\/a>. <\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think I have ever been without a cat or two or more. And recently, we invited a little barn kitten into our home, named her Lily and fell in love with her. She was born in a barn alongside 14 other kittens (to 3 mother cats). <\/p>\n

Even though we inadvertently adopted her when she was only 6-week old, she was thriving\u2014until the morning of my birthday. One of the older cats was evidently playing with Lily on the 3-foot carpeted cat tree when she knocked it over on top of the kitten. It was an awful scene. Despite the blood and obvious shock the kitten suffered, x-rays revealed no broken bones. The vet thought her jaw might be broken, thankfully, it was not. <\/p>\n

After observing Lily for a few hours, the vet sent her home with us and we\u2019ve been on kitten watch ever since. It is day 3 and she is still sleeping a LOT\u2014hopefully because she is healing. She is eating (yeah) and drinking water. <\/p>\n

Practically my whole focus has been on this precious, innocent kitten since Saturday as we do everything we can to keep her comfortable and to help her heal. That\u2019s one reason why I have been remiss in keeping up my blog. But mostly, I have just been darn sad and haven\u2019t felt like doing anything other than caring for the kitten.<\/p>\n

It occurred to me this morning, though, as I contemplated my blog post for today, that everything in our lives has the potential to affect our writing. For example, I know writers who:<\/p>\n

\u2022\tWrite in order to heal\u2014they journal about their thoughts, problems, feelings. Some write their memoirs as a healing process.
\n\u2022\tWrite of their philosophies, experiences and adventures in order to teach and share.
\n\u2022\tWrite in order to change minds or, perhaps, the world.
\n\u2022\tWrite in order to learn more about who they are\u2014in an attempt to find themselves.
\n\u2022\tWrite to relieve pain, guilt, fear, anxiety.
\n\u2022\tWrite to work through grief.<\/p>\n

And sometimes it\u2019s really hard or even impossible to sit down and write. When we\u2019re really hurting or we\u2019re focused on a problem in our lives, for example, our concentration is anywhere from zilch to really messed up.<\/p>\n

I wonder, how do you handle your writing deadlines and obligations when there is \u201cstuff\u201d going on in your life? Have you ever used writing to work through a problem? Have you written about your troubles as a way to heal?<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to write a blog on this topic. Perhaps your experiences will help others. So please join in with your stories.<\/p>\n

Either use the Comments feature at this site or contact me at PLFry620@yahoo.com. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been absent for a few days. I hope my useful, informative, insightful blog posts were missed. I haven\u2019t felt much like working for several days. First, I had some sort of summer cold and was feeling more like crashing on the couch than blogging, editing or anything else pertaining to work. Ever feel like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t