"Give Those People AAAAIIIIIIRRRRRR."
That’s about 1/10th of my current mask collection. My mother is my hero and is a mask-making machine. It’s her way of giving back and staying busy. She’s on her own out in the country, and the thought of her whizzing away at my sister-in-law’s sewing machine (mom’s gave up the ghost after about 800 masks) makes me worry about her less. She’s fine and occupied and making a real difference in many people’s lives.
So you might ask why in the world I would order and purchase a mask from the States. I did, though. Because this:
Yes, indeed. I dropped $14.95 in US clams (+ shipping) on this Total Recall mask. Gawd knows if it’ll fit, I’ve no idea of the quality, etc. I also don’t care.
The minute I saw that mask, I knew I had to have it. It’s because it gave me joy and very little does these days, I freely admit. Total Recall is on my top twenty desert island movies. Sure, it’s flawed as hell. What isn’t? But it has some of the best lines Arnold ever got to utter outside of Terminator-land. My personal favourite is “Give those people air!” Go ahead. Say it like Arnold. You know you want to.
If you know me at all, you know that I love Arnold. I don’t love everything he’s done, but most of it. The thought of wearing him around on my face fills me with glee.
And it occurred to me that glee is not an emotion I’ve felt much for months. If it takes a silly, expensive mask from the States to do that, then I’m all over it. I plan to wear poor suffering Arnold around on my face because it’s fun.
I’ve had to remind myself that fun is allowed.
The mask (and the anticipation of it arriving some day—who knows as it’s coming from California and I am horrified by what’s going on down there) is making me feel a little freed-up in the panic and worry departments. So much so that I actually had room in my brain the other day to imagine writing again.
I’m thinking of doing something I swore years ago that I would never do: write a sequel to Nuala: A Fable. I make no promises, but I’ve been talking it over with a couple of trusted friends, who have both encouraged me, and who have reminded me that the story isn’t finished. I ended the novel where I wanted to, and I didn’t deliberately leave it unresolved. But unresolved it is.
There’s a lot of possibility in this idea. I’ve also thought about sitting down with a memoir I wrote ten years ago and beginning some new edits on it now that I can see it from a distance.
This is big for me. I’ve written nothing but this blog for months, and while I’ve been editing other people’s stuff like mad, I’ve not given a thought to my own work. You know I don’t believe in writers’ block. I’ve been worried about the fate of the human race. That’s not a block.
The memoir is sitting on a shelf behind me. I’ve likely not looked at it in eight years. Off the shelf, perhaps? It feels daunting, but also right. I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, would a bit of fun take the load off the part of your brain that might not be able to edit your own work right now? Good old Arnold did it for me. What about you?