I'd Rather Be Writing

Remember those bumper stickers that read, "I'd rather be fishing"? Whenever my life gets really outta control I think, I'd rather be writing. You could say my life is outta control these days. We've recently moved to a new state, got a contract on a quaint little cottage that needs a lot of work, and are in the process of finding a builder who won't charge us everything we've got. Every day since we got the fantastic news that our offer was accepted on the house, it seems there is more bad news. The absolutely awesome root cellar downstairs is riddled with plumbing and electrical jimmy-rigs from previous owners.

The lot is too narrow to add an attached garage within city ordinances. None of the contractors on my mom's list can take on our particular job. [Insert random unexpected expense here.]

I'd really rather be writing.

Writing is my therapy. Whether it's a blog post, a journal entry, a facebook update, a poem, or a novel, it's soothing in the same way holding a fishing pole must be for those "I'd rather be fishing" people. In fact, you can pretty much figure out how stressful periods of my life have been by how heavy the writing files are. My teen years are represented in storage by an overflowing three-inch binder packed with loose-leaf poetry. Ah, the angst! I remember it well.

If I didn't have writing as therapy, I'd probably be in a loony bin by now. Happily, I just got a new tool to use in my therapy.

1939 Smith-Corona (the green is a typing manual from the 40's)

Actually, my six-year-old asked for this for Christmas, but we'll be sharing. It makes me happy just looking at it, let alone pressing these antique keys. I plan to write lots of poetry this winter to get me through the building/buying process.

When you write for therapy, what do you most often gravitate toward? Journaling? Novel-writing? Poetry? Space-opera screenwriting? And do you use a computer, typewriter, or pen?

Please do share.