A New Perspective on Life

There’s nothing like a series of health scares to open your eyes. That’s what happened to me in July and into August. My experience was horrible, painful, and distressing. I’m not 100% yet, but I’m doing better. My journey into Hell started with what appears to have been caused by stress and a stomach virus that led to blood sugar fluctuations and a tweaked neck. Fun times. I simply wasn’t listening to my body trying to tell me to chill out and not do activities that strain my neck. Lesson learned.

I’ve been addressing my stress by starting Tai Chi, and it’s helping. I should have been doing this a long time ago. Yoga breathing exercises are also helping me stay calm.

All of this has put my writing and my whole life on hold. I had finished the first draft of my vampire thriller right before this happened. Streams of thoughts and ideas about changes have come to me in spurts, and I have been making notes to review later when I can spend more time on the computer. This has turned out to be a good break from my story. I can return to it with fresh eyes and ideas on how to expand areas.

I also started reading books again, something I used to do all the time until I guess I lost focus. Reading other stories helps with my writing process, and it is a nice escape from life stresses.

Even though my experience was one of the worst for me, it also helped me open my eyes and start living better.

 

Older Main Characters in Fiction

I’m noticing more older main characters in fiction, even though I know there have always been mature main characters. I wasn’t paying attention to that until I got older. Now I can relate to them. Things like needing reading glasses and dealing with aches and pains are part of my life now. I recall a funny moment from the violent Sons of Anarchy show where the evil, controlling mother was trying to hotwire and steal a car. She had to get her readers out so she could see.

Since I’m still recovering from my health scare, I haven’t returned to the book I was working on yet, but I have been editing for other authors. A small-press publisher hired me for three jobs, and keeping busy is helping me get back on track. So far, two of the books have older main characters.

It is refreshing to see stories featuring older main characters in books and on TV. Sometimes, though, watching these elderly people struggling with daily life is hard to take in. One recent example is the documentary on Ozzy Osbourne’s last couple of years and his final weeks. It was a great accounting of how much he went through after breaking his neck in a fall and then his final weeks planning his farewell concert. The documentary was both humorous and heartbreaking. One line stood out. “I used to take pills for fun. Now I take them to stay alive.”

I’m at that age now where watching an older person struggle is difficult to handle, but it’s part of life.

I’d prefer to see these mature characters running around like a 63-year-old Tom Cruise in his latest Mission Impossible movie. It’s inspiring to see that, but everyone ages differently, and everyone has a different story to tell. Even the daily struggles are inspiring in their own tragic way.

Escape to a world of enchantment and passion.

www.kelleyheckart.com