Saturday, March 28, 2015

SUNDAYS WITH SHARON: THE COMPANY WE KEEP (AGAIN)!!

I stumbled upon a video I loved this week and just thought I'd share it again. Just coming off an intense race to the finish line, doing my layers of editing all while traveling out of state and beginning research on my 10th SEAL book, I think the wanderlust hit me. I started thinking about other things I could be doing with my time, like a perfectly normal adult with ADD. I've accepted this will always be a problem for me. But I also think it makes me the type of person who loves adventure and the dreams of running away from it all.

Just to be clear, my life is great, and this is no reflection on that. I'm grateful for everything I've been blessed with. But there comes a time when I do feel like doing something completely different. My friend Jody and I attended the quilting retreat at Bishop's Ranch in Healdsburg earlier in March. I went to Tucson and Phoenix, even drove to Scottsdale to attend the Tucson Festival of Books, research at the UofA library, and enjoyed fellowship with other authors, some new friends and some I'd met last year at the event. Today, I attended the Sonoma County Library Local Authors Showcase and Symposium, connecting with poets, thriller writers, historical fiction authors, memoirists and grammar divas. People had such a varied background from former newspaper reporters to teachers, cops, misfits and wine critics. I learned from all of these wonderful experiences and heard voices I loved in genres I don't usually read.  

My schedule is very full this year, too. And I'm planning on launching another 4 books as well as attending 6 more conferences before December. So it's not surprising that I dream of just getting off the grid, unplugging everything but my laptop, and just going on a road trip, or maybe a cabin in Antigua looking for that cheeseburger in paradise again. I'm not running away, I'm running to something unexpected, something that makes me laugh and dream and maybe not do too much talking. Maybe lots of reading.

So when I saw the group Sisters On The Fly, I was enchanted. I was ready for a Calgon moment that might last 10 years. "No men, no kids, no pets and be nice." What a wonderful dream that would be. Would I miss the men in my life? You bet. But there is something so uncomplicated in the company of women, when they want to be, that is, when they just sit and twitter like blackbirds on a telephone wire, shoot the breeze and laugh a lot.

I joined this group. I probably won't have a trailer until next year some time, and between trips, I can use it as a writing cottage. It would have everything I need: bed, internet connection, a decent shower, a microwave and an umbrella or two. I could pull it with my convertible Murano, stop and write when others are fly fishing. I might even learn how to do that myself. Bring my guns and my laptop and I'm all set!

I mean, what better place to cook up stories than taking a long road trip. I might find myself and never come back!



15 comments:

  1. I loved this Sharon! Makes me want to get me a trailer too but I'd have to bring my Scooby. My patchwork and I need him to function, ;-) Those trailers are amazingly beautiful. Thank you for sharing. Have a wonderful Sunday :-) xoxo

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  2. Sharon,
    I need that trailer. Having ADD is almost like having Narcolepsy with Cataplexy. ADD is at the charge end of the scope, whereas Narcolepsy is out the (double) negative end of the scope. I dreamt of travel when I retired but after a very long, hard fight for disability that dream has been put to rest. Well, it had been until someone mentioned RV, and I thought trailer. I could live, travel, dream, and find my muse in a trailer like that. Go, dream, be creative......

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  3. Thanks, Conchita. While this group doesn't allow pets (and I'd miss mine) I'm sure there are others out there that do. I know what you mean, though. Really hard to leave behind the things you love, and I'd miss my gardens, but that's what it's about, doing something "out of the box." When I sold real estate, people would buy houses based on what would be good for their pets, and I certainly do understand that 100%. Thanks for stopping by.

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  4. Barbara, I'm with you. An in the company of people who probably have experience fixing mechanical things I'd have to learn about, it would be fun, wouldn't it? I think about all the things I've done alone, and sometimes struggled with (my computer, some of the storage of files, transferring and now my iPhone acting up and not storing pictures and VMs)the problem wasn't that I didn't know how to do things, but that I hadn't been in the right environment to learn. I think this would be mind-expanding. I have a year to plan it, and hope I can do it. You should come along!

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  5. Ah yes, the nomadic life. They lifestyle of a gypsy and a pirate. Getting away from the humdrum routine of a life overtaken by computers and smart phones. There's not a day goes by that I don't think of this and feel that way too. Wanderlust is part of my heart and soul. Do I have the guts and savvy to do it...maybe a later chapter in my life. Fate will have to decide that one for me.

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  6. It is a wonderful fantasy. I love the idea of traveling to unexpected places and having unplanned experiences. Wonderful thing about writing is, at some point in my career, all I need is my computer and some internet access. I look forward to the days when I'm not so tied down, with everything. Not complaining for what I do have, because I have the best of lots of worlds, but just looking forward to (as from the Star Trek movie) "The Undiscovered Country" and like in the movie, it was the soul of a being looking for itself. May we always go in search of our soul's desires. Thanks for taking this journey with me, J.D.

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  7. You're a free and gentle flower growing wild. I'm on this journey with you. Always.

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  8. Ah getting away from it all for awhile to see and dream. One day I will. I hope your plans become real next year

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  9. I think all writers have the dream of getting away from it all. Happy Trails!!

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  10. Would be fun to do and to share, right? Thanks, Julie.

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  11. Thanks, Jill!!! We do get a bit tied up, not in the erotic sense we might like!! LOL. Thanks for being here today.

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  12. I would have to have my animals with me but I'd love to go around the U.S. & take photographs. I take all my cameras. Take all the old back roads to see some of the out of the way & hidden treasures of this country

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  13. It would be fun, wouldn't it, Karen? I think a group of photographers and writers on the road together would be awesome. Maybe that will have to be on our bucket lists, right?

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  14. Yep that is one for my bucket list for sure

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