Courtesy of AboutLandscaping.com
Have you been writing like a maniac unleashed? I have, not always organized, but definitely unleashed. The thing with being so focused, so plugged in, so entrenched in the world you’re creating is that you forget to breathe.
At times, it’s good to just take a day off. Do something to soothe your fevered brow–something restful, peaceful, calming.
Why is this necessary?
When we are involved with our own characters and their world, we step out of ours. It’s refreshing and invigorating to go out with friends, visit family, or just go to the movies. Today I visited one of my daughters and paused as I was leaving. Her white lilac bush was in full bloom. She has lived there for two years, and I never noticed the lilacs before.
I paused to breathe in their heavenly scent. It’s the moments like that which add sweet endearing details to our lives and the stories we create. Recently I was reading Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris. There was this part where Sookie is driving in the car and singing with the radio. Sookie admits to herself that she can’t sing. That one sweet moment endeared the character of Sookie Stackhouse to me all over again. The way to write such moments for our characters is to live them.
Tomorrow leave the house and just breathe.
–Susan
Susan Hanniford Crowley
http://www.susanhannifordcrowley.com
Nights of Passion 
Sweet suggestion, Susan. I just received white lilacs from my own daughter. They grow in her garden, also. We went to hear The English Lady (a baroness turned landscape gardener) speak about the glories of manure. You heard me, manure. She follows horses for it with a pail and shovel, wearing her 50-year-old wellies. Now if that picture is not for a romance novel, I don’t know what is.
I felt very relaxed listening to her, knowing I won’t be challenged to follow her example.
Thanks for sharing!
I grew up with a huge bush of lilacs next to the house. A smell mprinted in childhood remains fresh.
I am actually a lilac fanatic. Allow me to attempt to prove it by quoting myself from my memoir, GATHERING ROSES, THORNS AND ALL:
“As a child I left Hungary, land of fables and legends, hot springs and misty lakes, and of dreamy, lilac-scented evenings.
…
When I moved from one of my homes in the States, I left behind a thank-you, a bit of my old home in Hungary, where my journey first began: a lilac bush. It still thrives wildly, without reserve, as do I.”
For what is May without lilacs? Enjoy them, like the scent, they are fleeting…
Thank you for letting me share this.
When I owned a house I had bushes of deep purple lilacs growing along side my front yard. They were beautiful and I loved the scent. Here at the condo, they are but a sweet memory. I agree with Susan and thank her for reminding me to take a moment and a deep calming beath.
Pingback: Links of the week #17 « S. J. Maylee
Speaking of Sookie…..guess what I’m reading now? 😉