Every time I meet with one of my writing groups I get an interesting and challenging prompt. This last week's prompt was: What is something I resist. What am I doing when I resist? And here is what I came up with. Needless to say, it's connected to my recent bicycle accident which is still very much on my mind. As much as I try to stop thinking about it it doesn't go away. I call it Resistance Just after the man on the bicycle ran over me and I was taken to the ER and later in the day to the ICU, I resisted seeing any of the people who wanted to call and visit me. At that point I could barely talk – not even to my son Ben who was in the room with me most of the time. I just wanted to lay in bed in my hospital gown, covered with bandages all over my arms and the back of my head. I was sure no one wanted to see me like that so I did the best I could to prevent it. At those early times no one, including myself, was sure I had enough brain power to carry on a coherent conversation. … [Read more...]
The man on the bike (Part 2)
This is the second part of my piece about being run over by a man on his bike. The first part appeared here on December 4, 2022. *** Those days in the hospital were pretty much of a blur. I mostly remember getting up and using a walker to go into the bathroom – with nurse assistance – and Ben being with me most of the time. I didn’t do much else other than lay in my bed – barely talking to anyone the entire time. Once I was in the regular room the doctor started talking about discharging me, but he refused to discharge me to my apartment at Fountainview with home health care there because of my wounded head. I needed to be in a place that had a medical staff to monitor my injury, treat my wounds, and give me regular physical and occupational therapy so that I’d be as strong as possible when I return to my apartment. They said my stay would be a one-week minimum, though it depended on how I progress. I reluctantly agreed, and I was moved to the California Rehabilitation … [Read more...]
The man on the bike
I was in a horrible accident about two and a half months ago which ended up putting me in the ER, ICU, hospital and rehab. The cause - though hard to believe - was a man on his bicycle running me down and giving me cuts and bruises on my body and a cracked head and brain bleed. The bottom line is that I've recovered almost completely with no residual after effects. I'm doing everything I used to do before the accident. What I'm trying to do now is write about the details of the accident. I've written six pages, but I only plan to share the first two pages here today. Please comment after you've read it. I'd love your feedback. With huge thanks. The Man on the Bike On Saturday, September 24, 2022, at about nine-thirty in the morning, I was walking back to my apartment in Playa Vista as usual. I had just about finished my daily ten thousand step walk and was ready to cross at Bluff Creek Drive and Westlawn, a corner I crossed every day, so I could reach my apartment entrance on … [Read more...]
COVID even strikes without a positive diagnosis
The following is another piece I wrote in my Zoom writing group meeting. The prompt was: "Who did I meet this year who surprised or delighted us? I decided to change the "who" to a "what" and this is what I came up with. Needless to say the recent death of my husband after his long stay in hospital and rehab care was on my mind. COVID was the huge surprise this year. After a slow and quiet beginning it came upon us like gangbusters – so much so that we didn’t know how to behave in its presence. First we were told wearing masks didn’t help. Later on masks were mandated. And though staying six feet from others was recommended it wasn’t enforced very much. How does one stay six feet apart at the grocery store or even on the street. Another rule was to wash our hands for twenty seconds many times a day. But how does one monitor that. We washed using the honor system I did stay inside especially when the numbers of victims and deaths started to rise and the science doctors – and … [Read more...]
Today Sarah Dickinson tells us how to be self-aware in our writing
Today at Choices our WOW! Women On Writing book tour guest is Sarah Dickinson, author of Silver Spoons: One's Journey Through Addiction. Her book, told through letters, is an intimate and raw look at the current face of addiction and recovery. We're pleased to have Sarah here: Being Self-aware in Your Writing by Sarah Dickinson Every year there is anywhere from 600,000 to one million books published in the U.S. alone. While those numbers are indeed impressive it’s overwhelming when you consider the work and passion that goes into creating each one. Indeed, writers everywhere have an endless list of factors to consider before they can even begin their own “Once upon a time.” We could talk writing styles, technique, point of view, plot development or even character creation. Sadly, we do have to save those topics for another day. Because today, we are going to talk about being self- aware in your writing. You may ask why is being self-aware so important in writing. It … [Read more...]
