As I have said before on this blog, I like quiet and
stillness. I love the quiet of the
morning before anyone gets out of bed. I
love the quiet of the ocean when there is nothing around you but water. I love gardens and libraries, but more
importantly, I need quiet to concentrate.
I am very easily distracted, like Dug in the movie Up, any small sound
or a movement takes my focus right out of my thoughts and into the goings-on of
the world around me. I need quiet to
write.
This is a problem because I live in a commune. Ok, it isn’t really a commune, but more often
than not, my house is very like a commune.
Its constantly filled with various and sundry relatives. Some stay for a few days, some stay for a few
months, some stay longer. I like them
all. It seems to me that constantly
being surrounded by loved ones is good problem to have, but I still can’t get
any work done at home. The TV is always
on, someone is doing P90X in the living room, or everyone is in the kitchen
cooking breakfast, second breakfast, elevensies, luncheon, dinner, or supper. We won’t even talk about the bathroom
situation.
As a result of my family’s communal style of living, I have
been on a quest to find a comfortable place to write during the day. The first logical place to try was
Starbucks. It’s kind of a tradition for
writers to write in coffee shops. If
it’s good enough for John Green, it’s good enough for me. Not really.
I had never noticed how much people talk in coffee shops. That seems elementary, but I had never
thought about it because I had never tried to concentrate on anything more
complex than a vanilla scone and a cappuccino inside of a coffee shop.
As I said, I like libraries, so my next stop was the county
library. It seemed like a brilliant idea
until I walked in the door and realized it’s summer. The lobby of the library looked like a
Gymboree class. That ended quickly.
Next I decided to try the local community college library,
which is where I am writing now. In a
funny way, I think the universe is trying to help me write this blog post. When I got here, it was quiet. I sat down in a study room, got my laptop set
up and my phone plugged in, then someone turned on a jackhammer outside my
window. Construction. I moved to a quieter place, sat down, set up
my laptop, and someone set off the fire alarm.
A few minutes ago someone decided to have a party outside of my current
window.
Don’t they say, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”? I guess I will, as soon as I finish writing
this post.
