Last month I went to Virginia for a conference geared toward people who own creative arts businesses. Most, but not all, who attended are fiber artists. It was a really great meeting filled with lot of interesting sessions and plenty of networking. (I am not one of nature’s networkers, but my roommate made me do it…) Because my brother lives in the area, I arrived a day early to do some sightseeing (great quilt exhibit at the DAR Museum!) and spend some time with family. It was a really great week. Then, on the return trip, a virus followed me home. Airports and airplanes are horribly germy places, and this is why I hate traveling.
I’m now heading into week three of feeling dreadful, and it stopped being amusing about ten days ago. The fever is finally gone, thankfully, but the cough is still annoying to me and to anyone within earshot. If I move suddenly, I am dizzy, and if I do anything really strenuous – like getting dressed – I need to sit and rest for a while. Most ironically of all, for someone who just came back from a creative arts summit, I have absolutely no creative ideas about anything right now. And that includes this column. As I write this, I’m well past deadline, and can’t think of a blessed thing to say.
Because you can find anything on the Internet, I tried searching for “how to regain creativity.” Based on the number of articles that turned up, this is apparently not an uncommon dilemma. There were several that suggested various forms of exercise. Not really an option when a walk across campus is as daunting as a marathon. And it’s a small campus. One essay suggested overcoming a fear by doing something that really scares you. Yeah, not going to happen. When you’re a viral Petri dish, skydiving, SCUBA diving, and bungee jumping are definitely not on the agenda. (Okay, you’d never get me to do any of those things even if I weren’t sick. But that’s beside the point.) Another essay suggested taking some time away from your usual creative endeavors. Again, not an option when a deadline is receding in the rearview mirror.
On second thought, maybe it is. Because anything else I try to write at this point is probably going to degenerate into gibberish. So I’m going to go drink more tea with honey, and take my cough medicine, and concentrate on vanquishing this virus before the Yard Sale. The rest of this space is intentionally left blank…
See you at the meeting,
Pam