For the last few
days I’ve been proofreading a manuscript given to me by a friend of
a friend. She’s just written her first book and after reading the
first draft, I gave a few recommendations and then offered to check
it all. This is, after all, one of my skill sets.
Now. Proofreading is
dull and laborious and requires an extremely high level of accuracy.
The main reason it’s dull (and also the reason that the author
should not EVER proof read their own stuff) is that you can’t
“enjoy” what you’re looking at. You are there, like an Olympic
judge, to check for flaws and errors. You are not there to get stuck
in to the prose.
Case in point would
be my first fantasy novel, The Catastrophe of the Emerald Queen. This
was a labour of love that took about a year to write, edit and get
published. I didn’t see a whole shit load of mistakes that were in
it because I was emotionally attached to the text. The adventures of
Mordalayn, bodyguard to the child queen of Alegria as he fought the
wicked King James of Anghofio. Even typing that now I can feel a
little tingle. Worst mistake in the first edition was “and the
shoulders shouted out for their king”, which the spell checker
didn’t flag up and I was oblivious to as I was too into the
excitement of the Anghofian King’s Daggers taking on Mordalayn on
the steps of the Emerald palace.
The book I was
proofreading was about spirituality and enjoying life. One line that
the author wrote that stuck with me is that it is about the journey
and not about the arrival or conclusion. We all die one day, so enjoy
what you have and embrace each new day.
The book also talks
about seeing and interpreting signs in life and acting upon them.
Also, that we are where we are supposed to be at any given time and
things come to us as they are meant to, in a time/ space sequence.
Like me, the author
had read You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay and has adopted a lot
of that wonderful lady’s philosophies.
Something that
became clear as I looked through the book (yes, I know I wasn’t
meant to be “reading” it but it kind of seeped in) was that by
letting go of a lot of horrible shit, life can become a lot more
“flowy” and much less of a struggle.
Recently I came back
from Australia. I’d just completed but failed a course to be a Krav
Maga instructor. The whole thing was, at the end of the day, an
attempt for me to prove to myself that I could go for something that
was extremely difficult and happening WAY beyond my comfort zone. I
came out of it exhausted, disappointed and sore (with hip and back
issues that still haven’t realigned). However I also felt elated
and proud. I knew I might fail but I chose not to be Schroedinger’s
Pussy any more and for that I feel good.
But….
There were many
other ways I could have done this course.
Part one was 12 days
in the Australian Gold Coast in April 2017. I applied for it while
travelling out in Australasia and had a whale of a time. Determined
to get my mind on the wavelength of “I will pass” I booked a
return flight from London to Melbourne to take part 2 in July. I had
to leave Oz during the gap because my visa is good for 9 months of
the year but only in 3 month spurts.
Once I got back I
realised that I could have opted to take part 2 anywhere in the world
(66 countries belong to Krav Maga Global, the organisation that run
the General Instructors Course/ GIC) but with a non changeable/ non
refundable, Doctor Dao-esque return flight booked...well, I either
did the course or I stayed but lost the money for the flight.
As proud as I am of
having gone back to attempt part 2, what I have recently realised is
that I could have done it in London or Rome or Athens or anywhere. I
booked flights to return to Melbourne way back in April because I was
too focussed on what I wanted to even consider that there might be
another way.
All that travel and
back pain and airline food and jet lag and exhaustion and A FUCKING
AUSTRALIAN WINTER!!! could all have been avoided if I’d just sat
back and let life flow with me, as opposed to wading against the
current up river.
Years ago in Mad
magazine I saw a short, 3 or 4 panel cartoon of a guy climbing a
mountain. He was tired, dirty and injured by the time he climbed over
the summit with his bare hands...only to find that there was a
McDonalds at the top, full of people and a road next to it, leading
down, that he had failed to see.
I try to do yoga
regularly but am unable (at the moment) to assume the Full Lotus
position due to stiffness in my hips, partially due to sciatica and
partially due to a knee operation on my left side. I found out from a
yoga teacher after at least 4 years of working around the issue, that
it wasn’t even necessary to perform Full Lotus and there were a
multitude of other positions that would allow me not to need it.
I always had bad BAD
BAADD hangovers. My record for time in bed with a right stinking one
is about 36 hours. It turns out that all I needed to avoid (most) of
this was lots of water before, during and after a boozing session.
I found out that
when economy airlines board their flights, every bugger and their
aunty stand up and just queue like lemmings. I now sit down and wait
until the herd has thinned, then get up and walk at a leisurely pace
to my seat.
Life can be an
uphill struggle if you don’t take a breath and just go with it.