Anxiety
ANXIETY is now part of our everyday lives and it seems to be on the increase. Some suffer from it more than others and it often goes hand in hand with apprehension and anticipation – which mixed altogether is a major cause of stress – the 21st century disease.
I have had two causes of anxiety over this last week. The first is the imminent publishing date of my new work, TRIANGLES IN SQUARES, which is the second book of my Three Lives Trilogy. With the first book, PARALLEL LINES, I didn’t have the same feelings of doubt and worry. I blundered into it optimistically and it was all a bit of an adventure. I don’t remember having any of the stress that I am having with this one, which is odd, because I have sensibly sought out professional help for this book with the proofing and cover design.
I am absolutely delighted with the work Stephen and Rachael in Green Door Design for Publishing have done. The book is already on Kindle and the hard copy will be out next week. So why am I so full of anxiety? I think it is perhaps because I now have to take my writing seriously and treat it, not as a hobby, but as a profession – just as I did with theatre and opera directing. And once that happens I am open to judgement from the public and that is where the stress factor creeps in!
My other source of anxiety this week is that I will be facing major surgery in the next few days. Since I smashed up my ankle two years ago I have been hobbling around like a female Lord Byron – and the pain has been increasingly worse. It is now difficult for me to walk more than a few yards, so the operation is very necessary. The outcome, hopefully, will be positive and I will be mobile again. However, I have to face 10 weeks in plaster when I will be confined to my room and this is a slight ordeal as well. It is where the anxiety comes in. How will I cope with getting around on one leg for ten weeks?
Of course, once it is all happening the anxiety will just disappear and it is then a matter of coping with it from day to day. It is more in the anticipation that the worry and fears arise.
So how to deal with this? Good music, good food, good wine and a good book will probably go a long way to combating it. Once I am confined to barracks I will start writing Book 3 of the trilogy. Occupational therapy is also an excellent cure!