Escapism

When I started reading, I discovered the wonder of books. I grew up in a small town in Southern California, but when I opened the cover of the book I could be anywhere! Each book opened new and wonderous worlds to me - it was magical! Now, I find that I will be stepping into my own written world as an escape. We have a search for new housing coming up and a move. Not fun. I'm an anxious person with things like this. We have a "pit bull" and this hampers our search for rentals because most people are ignorant sheep who simply believe what they see on tv or read in the papers, missing the correction that the "pit bull attack" was actually a lab, boxer (this has been the most popularly reported "pit bull" in the past month) or rhodesian ridgeback, that the "family pet" was actually a resident dog who lived on a chain or in the backyard with no training, no socialization and only occasionally being fed. The damage has been done so it's an uphill battle for two well educated, intelligent, responsible adults who thoroughly researched the breed, were surprised to find that most of the 'pit bull owners' were educated, intelligent adults with families, to find a rental. People miss out on the joy that is our dog and on two great renters. I like to settle. We've been here for three years. I was at the last apartment for eight years. We are a steady income with our rent check always on time. We fix things ourselves and don't make a fuss. Our dog goes everywhere with us. Buying would fix the problem, but I don't want to buy in Los Angeles. This isn't where I want to spend the rest of my life so I have sealed our fate when it comes to housing. I feel guilty about this at times, but I am stubborn and won't budge. This week as the feeling of being unsettled washes over me, I'll be forcing myself to retreat to my story. I'll hide out in the forest with my characters. I almost added "where it's safe." It's not really very safe there at the moment. I'd probably be safer walking the streets of downtown L.A. at night by myself right now! There is a lot of turmoil in the forest. My characters certainly aren't safe. Who knows what I will throw at them next! It will be interesting to see if what happens outside the book affects what will happen IN the book. Who knows what might open the computer and crawl in unaware. Like my nephew in the picture below, off I go into the scary, wide world. I want to run fearlessly like he is in this picture - unaware that steps can cause you to fall and that falling can hurt. That is the best way to approach life and to approach our writing, I think.