 |
| Photo Credit 123RF.com |
Life
hit me pretty hard in the month of August. Just this past week, I sent my
oldest off to college (yes, my first to fly the nest). If that isn't enough to
send a mom into a tailspin, then having to do it while holding down a demanding
day job that sucks more and more family/personal/writing time would certainly
push most people over the edge.
Yes,
the day job went from zero to eighty in the month of August. Perfect timing,
right? Not so much. By Thursday of this past week, I was at the end of my rope--emotional
from leaving the kiddo 2oo miles away, I returned to a job that keeps changing
from hour-to-hour. That day, I was pulled off one project to start another. Add
to that a vehicle breakdown and another personal family crisis that blew up,
and I was holding on to the knot on the end of that rope and felt myself slipping.
 |
| Photo Credit: 123RF.com |
What did I do? When the dust settled and I got back home and crawled into bed,
I did as any good romance reader-writer would do, I pulled out my Kindle and I
fell into a romance novel.
The
only thing that has kept me sane this month has been my love of reading romance
novels. Seriously. It’s why I started reading romance in the first place. When
my life is crap, I can escape into someone else’s world. I can push aside
everything that’s wrong for just a little while and get a break from the
emotions, the stress, the demands that seem to claw at me 24/7. Yeah, I’ve got
one of those minds that won’t shut off. I don’t find oblivion in a bottle, I
find it in a book.
What
I’ve learned is when I hit that wall, or I’m hanging on by just a thread, when
my life rockets to out-of-control, I need to take a breather, pull out my
Kindle, and read a romance. Only by submersing myself in story--in a romance
novel, where a hero and a heroine have problems that they overcome to find
their happily-ever-after--can I find rest. Some might say, oh, well, you’re
burying your head in the sand. Ignoring your problems. No. I’m finding a spot
of peace in a chaotic world that at that moment I can’t handle. It’s my only
harbor some days. And I clutch it tightly with both hands. Yes, I’m a romantic.
I’m in love with falling in love. I’m an optimist. Life can suck that all out
of you if you let it.
 |
| Photo Credit: 123RF.com |
So
when life gets me down and pushes me too hard, I turn to my safe harbor, my Zen
place, and I read a romance. I know I’m not the only one who does this. I hear
it again and again from women who read romance. How they find respite from the
hardships of their lives when they read romance novels. I applaud them and I
say hell, yeah, go for it. I know, firsthand, how hard life can be and how
often I can attribute my ability to push through a tough situation or to remain
standing in the midst of a crisis to some great romance novel that has swept me
away for an hour or two and given me a break from my own life.
And
this is also why I write romance novels. There are women out there just like me
who need to find that next demilitarized zone so that they can handle whatever
it is that life is throwing at them. There is peace from the chaos. Grab it
with both hands--and if it comes through your Kindle by way of your favorite
romance author--even better. At the end of the day, all that’s important is
that you maintain your sanity and you’re still standing. If you’re still
standing when the dust settles, you are stronger than your problems. Plus, when
you give your brain a break, you can usually figure out a solution to overcome
the slings and arrows of life.
 |
| Photo Credit: 123RF.com |
So,
go, find your Zen place today. Pick up a book. Be good to yourself. I’m here
cheering you on.
I’d
love to hear from you if you've ever experienced the saving grace of reading in
times of trouble. We all like to know we’re not alone. ;0) And that’s what
romance does for us, it helps us build community. So give me a shout out and
comment if you've been there.
