Audience Participation 2: Did running away help?
Short Answer: YES
Long Answer: Indirectly, I can thank Lois McMaster Bujold - via the book Paladin of Souls - for encouraging me to run away. Her character, Ista, realises:
"You can't solve problems by running away from them, it was said, and like the good child she had once been, she had believed this. But it wasn't true. Some problems could only be solved by running away from them." (p. 45, paperback)
A few pages later, Ista - who has run away - says:
"In truth, these few days of travel have brought me more ease than the past three years of idling. My flight from Valdenda may have begun as a spasm, as a drowning man strikes upward to the air, but I do believe I start to breathe...." (p. 76, paperback)
Getting out of your rut helps you see yourself and your situation differently. This is helpful.
Also, four months in the country, in a gentle English summer, among beautiful surrounds, with not many commitments, is a good way to recuperate physically and emotionally. And I had some stuff to recuperate from.
Some of what was making me feel so desperate was just feeling hopeless and helpless. Taking action, almost any action, in spite of the (reasonable) objections is empowering.
Long Answer: Indirectly, I can thank Lois McMaster Bujold - via the book Paladin of Souls - for encouraging me to run away. Her character, Ista, realises:
"You can't solve problems by running away from them, it was said, and like the good child she had once been, she had believed this. But it wasn't true. Some problems could only be solved by running away from them." (p. 45, paperback)
A few pages later, Ista - who has run away - says:
"In truth, these few days of travel have brought me more ease than the past three years of idling. My flight from Valdenda may have begun as a spasm, as a drowning man strikes upward to the air, but I do believe I start to breathe...." (p. 76, paperback)
Getting out of your rut helps you see yourself and your situation differently. This is helpful.
Also, four months in the country, in a gentle English summer, among beautiful surrounds, with not many commitments, is a good way to recuperate physically and emotionally. And I had some stuff to recuperate from.
Some of what was making me feel so desperate was just feeling hopeless and helpless. Taking action, almost any action, in spite of the (reasonable) objections is empowering.