A funny thing happens when a very busy person becomes a full-time writer.
Listen.
Hear that? Yeah. Silence. I'm home alone, and the only sound I hear sitting at my desk is the ticking of the clock on the wall above me. The shades are up on the windows now, so I can at least see the leaves being blown by the wind, but I can barely hear it.
I can't say that I never appreciated the chatter of people around me while I worked. Sure, it was distracting at times when I was sitting a computer in the nurse's station trying to get my charting done. However, while I don't miss charting at all, I do miss the people.
I recently read somewhere that in order to maintain good mental health, a man needs to find a woman, and a woman needs to find other women. It's true. Now that I'm surrounded by men nearly all the time--as opposed to my working hours that were spent primarily with women--I can see how much I needed that. Conversation with my husband and sons is different. It's an exchange of information, rather than simply chatting. You don't realize how important it is until it's gone.
I'm going to visit my sisters in Kentucky this coming weekend, so I'm sure I'll get my fill of girl talk, but it isn't the ongoing interaction that I've been used to having. Over the past forty years, I've spent far more time with my fellow nurses than I have with anyone else. In many ways, we were closer than sisters. But the blood ties aren't there. When you leave a job, you leave behind friends, many of whom you will never see again.
Since so many of us have left our jobs at that hospital, we're trying to make an effort to get together now and then. But it isn't the same. Whenever anyone had exciting news, there was always someone there to share it with. I can still do that--after all, they're only a phone call away--but that face time is so important. Seeing the changes in body language, the smiles and the frowns are crucial to human socialization. I hardly ever used to make eye contact with clerks in stores, etc. I find myself making a point of doing that now. I guess I need it more.
Especially if the cashier has eyes like these.
What are your thoughts?
