About six months ago, I started to get a ‘been there – done that – now what’ feeling. No, I am not a millionaire banker who’s looking for nirvana. Nor am I on a quest to climb the Everest. I’m a ‘common man’ (or woman) as they say. I’m in my mid 30s, have two children (with whom I’m in the park watching over them as I have my very first attempt at writing), run a small hobby-ish type business and live a very comfortable life (thanks to my husband’s big salary). Yet life feels like ground hog day. Surely this ‘been there – done that – now what’ feeling can’t be reserved for the very elite who’ve conquered it all and we all feel like this at some point in our lives.
So to dig deeper and understand this new amalgamation of restlessness and mundaneness, I started enrolling myself into yoga, cooking and boot camp classes in the hope that I’ll find the answer. The good news is I got fitter and learnt some great new recipes but the restlessness seemed to consume me even more. I didn’t even know what I was looking for so am I going to keep going until I come across the ‘this is it’ feeling?
Thinking it’s just a passing phase, from retail therapy to ladies nights out to spa breaks, I tried it all as a distraction but they all felt like cheap thrills. Some sort of ‘therapy’ should have done the job. The dictionary defines therapy as:
1. Treatment of illness or disability.
2. Psychotherapy.
3. Healing power or quality
As I looked up the definition of therapy in the dictionary and simultaneously started jotting my emotions on a notepad, I had a moment of epiphany – writing was my therapy! And the ‘this is it’ feeling had never been stronger before…not even when I started my dance company business that I used to call my 3rd baby.
Full of excitement thinking of the vast opportunities that lie ahead at the prospect of becoming a writer, I frantically started googling writing courses. I even called a few academies received some brochures and arranged for childcare to be able to attend the courses. It was all taken care of, except that the availability on the course I wanted was scarce and I simply couldn’t wait for another few months!
I also had another moment of realisation – it’s not all about making money and turning every hobby into a business. The fact that I couldn’t wait for a writing course made me realise that I need to write now! Kind of like a diary I suppose.
The media world has brainwashed us so much that we take unnecessary interest in other people’s lives and forget that if we start writing we’ll see how our lives are full of spice too. From Fifty Shades of Gray to Tony Blair’s autobiography, everyone’s writing. So here I am writing my very first article and boy does it feel therapeutic! So grab your pen and paper (or iPads for those who are technically advanced and prefer typing), sit on a bench in the park and start writing people!
shwetaggarwal 