Back from a very nice place

When I say that I'm back from a very nice place, I mean both in a physical sense and an emotional and spiritual one. Cliff and I went to Othona for a week's break immediately after school finished. What a great way to come down form the stress of the last term of school, and most especially the last three weeks. For me, the time there has allowed me to recharge my batteries and to find my direction for the next month or so (and perhaps longer!).



I managed some time on my writing as well. As there was no Internet connection (except in a small corner of the quiet room) all of my writing was focused on my novel. I started by rereading the first 5 and a half chapters. I hadn't worked on the novel for about three weeks and so I had lost track of the characters. I wrote the rest of the chapter 5 and I'm into chapter 6. Now I'm started again, I must make sure that I keep up the momentum because I would like to finish my first draft by the end of my holidays.

I had forgotten what it was like to be somewhere where there is very little noise. For the majority of the time, you couldn't hear the traffic from the road, there were no radios, television sets or CD players available except for special occasions, though we could have had a radio or CD player in our room if we had wanted to. The house was often completely silent. When there was noise, it was often the sound of voices involved in talk or discussion. There were also some who sang. I have come to realize how important silence (or an environment with less noise) is. Often times, I leave the radio or television on to have some noise in the background. I wonder why I do that when I feel so much better without it. I suppose it's a habit, one I would like to break.