Writing on the Road

Campervan Love and the Joy of Solitude by Sue Reid Sexton.

I saw this book at Gloucester Service Station/Farm Shop and, on return home from a little break, I ordered it from The Book Depository - as quick and easy as Amazon and free delivery.  The Book Depository are also part of the Easy Fundraising scheme, so I earned a few more pennies for my favourite charity.  My hope for choosing it was that it would get me a) back into reading and b) inspired to continue with my quest to get my novel published one day.  It definately gave back both my reading and writing mojo, even though Christmas was on the horizon and there was so much to distract me.

It was published back in 2016 and I felt the opening first few paragraphs were alarming as being very mindful of the planet; recycling/getting rid of rubbish considerately and caring for beauty spots was uppermost in everyone's mind. However, that aside I got well into the scenes of campervanning as I have friends and family who often take off in their homes on wheels for mini breaks.

It is not a novel or fiction. This is true life of one brave lady who writes for publishing, a serious, time consuming business - I know. The need for a quiet space I can identify with.  The procrasination for the job in hand I can identify with. The inner voice that tells you its not good enough/give up etc I can identify with. I definately identified with her journal writing.  And when I found out the author had been a Person Centred Counsellor for 10 years, as I had been, I identified with the processes she likened writing and counselling to.  

She writes about the joy of solitude, fears parking up in an unknown place without a phone signal, her relationships and her innermost thoughts.  She describes in detail places in Scotland I have visited. The detail of scenery and nature is beautiful.

Towards the end, and what I was most inspired by, was the weeks or months she is not writing and the self talk about it not being worthy of continuing.  She has writing gaps and has to have right conditions for editing - tidyness, food, drink etc.  It is this that got me out into my writing cabin again the very next day and to get on with my process/progress.

I didn't want the journey to end, I didn't want to leave the highways, narrow lanes, bends and high places of Scotland but the wheels of my mind in reading this book has got me moving.  

I read reviews after I had made notes of my reading experience and was upset for the author that a few people didn't get it, or wanted it to be something other than it was.  All books, no doubt, appeal to different people at different times.  I guess those who bought campervans during these last two Covid years may have wanted tips on camping sites (there are a few recommendations) but wild camping is the author's preferred way of being away from home for the purpose of writing and needing few distractions.  It is a log of her trips, at different times, to different locations and what happens during those times.  

Reviewed also on Goodreads.  

Tiredness can kill....

...... a notice on the motorway.

But it's not just drivers that need to heed this warning. At this time of year 'End of Year Fatigue' is a thing. Tiredness causes irritations, arguments, mistakes, dropping and breaking crockery, falls and so many other mishaps because the brain, and therefore your body, is not firing on all cylinders.

Try to combat this by sitting down with a cup of tea or coffee. Stare out of window for 5 minutes. Breathe deeply. Give yourself permission to REST. Watch a film, read a book, forget the chores for an hour or two. Longer if you can. The power of resting is amazing: restoring your balanced mind and creating new energy. I can testify to this.

That said I know there is much to do at this time of year - ask yourself 'is this essential right now?' We also have the new Covid virus to contend with, which no doubt is adding again into our stresses. But we can be happy about the knowledge that THIS TOO WILL COME TO PASS. Be KIND to yourself.