Since this pandemic started, I think its safe to say we have all looked beyond our regular bag of tricks to find some different distractions. I have mostly been worried about providing things that fill my children's' souls, as I tend to worry about them more than myself. I have ordered so many supplies from Michaels and subscription boxes from places like Lets Make Art. Up until now, I thought it was just for them. Then I picked up some of the tools and started myself. I found a great thing from Imagine From Home (a Disney thing) where Imagineers show us how to draw fun scenes from Disney attractions. Since we missed our annual trip to Disneyland, I felt like this was something that my heart needed.
It took two days and my daughter did one with me. Its was an amazing time for us to bond, chat, and sit in silence. I am finding that I cherish moments like that more than I ever have in my life.
For myself, my bag of distractions has always included reading. Mostly, it has been historical fiction, but I have recently found biographies and chick lit distract me in different ways that apparently my brain needs.
I am a sucker for anything written by Kristin Hannah, and her new book The Four Winds is haunting and historically accurate. Her descriptions of landscape are breathtaking. Her character development was deep and wonderful and though at times hard to read, I was taken along a journey with the main characters. I also enjoyed Trevor Noah's biography and Michele Obama's biography- though I was a bit late to the game on reading both of them. And yes, I admit I fell whole heartedly into the Robyn Carr Virgin River series- there's like dozens of those books. It was nice to just have my own life fall away as I got lost in some other people's (albeit unrealistically realistic) drama.
I was charging through some other chick lit by Annie Rains in her Sweetwater Springs Series and it hit me right in the face. The character's mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and died at age 31. Through Emma's (main character) journey to run her coffee shop (and discover love, of course), she discovers a Life List written by her mother in the last year. It includes many things, including "start a 5k and give back to a meaningful organization." So Emma has her character arch for the story.
A few things struck me. Usually, it takes me two or three days to get through a 300 page novel like this. This one, I had to put down and wait a few days, wondering if it was worth continuing because the character was dealing with a cancer loss. I felt like in my time of distraction, when I am supposed to be floating away into another world, I didn't really feel like watching someone go through something I struggled with. It was not necessarily distracting. It was a reminder of all the emotions. And a reminder that I didn't really want.
This happens to me when I watch movies, too. I turn movies off where a character has breast cancer. I guess I should give the movie the benefit of the doubt, but I do not really want to go through it again. So I don't. I turn it off. But for some reason, its hard for me to not finish a book. Maybe its because I have published books and I feel for the author, putting himself or herself out there, wanting to reach out to people, to make them feel things. I always want to give a book a whole chance. Movies, for some reason, not so much.......I wonder why?
Anyway so, Emma had decided to put off her annual mammogram because she did not want to hear bad news, feeling she would likely follow her mother's health journey. Also her doctor helped her decide to genetic testing as her mother and grandmother died of breast cancer. I won't ruin the end of the story for you on that.....(but she did find love!!!)
What are your distractions?
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