River Brown

I have been at home for two days now, watching more TV than I have ever seen in the past 5 years and finally spending an abundance of time on the sofa. As I have been doing this extreme sport of lounging, I was taken back to a summer when I was 14 and going through the awkward phase of realizing that all I really wanted to do was read and write. This would be the summer when I blamed my parents for my not ever leaving the house – “No, I can’t make it to your pool party because my father doesn’t think its proper to wear a bathing suit.” (really I was at home reading a book.) “No, I can’t go to the water park because my mother says I will get skin cancer.” (this episode I remember well because my only two friends in the world came to the door and after I said this I closed the door and went right back to reading my book).
I am sure I had a ton of other ridiculous excuses, but that summer was the time when I really lived like a writer. I read a lot, I wrote a lot, I did not shower, and I lounged around in only bottoms that had an elastic waistband…so nice! I learned these are the traits of a writer from watching a video on Youtube. You know the kind of video I am referring to. It was titled – 10 Ways to know you are a Writer. One of them was this thing about showering. You see it is a nuisance not a necessity and that is how it felt for me that summer. It was like, “Dammit! I have to go shower now, but I am in the middle of unraveling how the main character died…I will do it as soon as I finish this part…” There are many days now when I wish I could just laze about in sweat pants, without makeup and go without showering because my writing is that important. To many that may sound unbearable, but to me it sounds like pure heaven. Doesn’t everyone feel that way? Forget stepping outside, I have all I need right inside my home. Who needs to wear tight, uncomfortable, restrictive clothing when sweatpants exist? Food? Food, you say? HA! That is why they invented cereal!
I need to quit my day job and dedicate more time for writing. Or just call in sick more often…