April is national poetry month. Here's my favorite and shortest poem from Maya Angelou written about her childhood: "Music was my refuge. I climbed inside the space between the notes and curled my back to loneliness." I love the poem that says so much in so few words about her childhood, where she drew her strength from all written with an image of a spine curled up against loneliness. Great beauty comes in small frames and few words. That's why I think I love children's books so much. They capture the essence of story so quickly and the words and images stay with us throughout our lives.
April is also National Stress Awareness Month. How appropriate since it's also the month when bounty counting comes due. (That's how I describe tax time. If we weren't so blessed we wouldn't have taxes to pay I tell Jerry and that helps us both feel better about writing that check.) Huffington Post had a sweet article about stress http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/06/natural-stress-relief-national-stress-awareness-month_n_1405806.html Since we're all busy let me summarize how I plan to incorporate those natural stress reducers into my April.
1. Laugh more. I plan to rent Tootsie a 1980s movie that I've seen at least three times and I always have belly laughs when I do. What movie or You Tube moment has made you laugh of late? Time to repeat.
2. Garden. It snowed here yesterday but Jerry bought me cut flowers to cheer me from my month long viral pneumonia bout. Hands in dirt are said to reduce stress and that an ancient word for garden meant "therapy." Buy yourself a tulip if there's no one in your life to buy one for you. Which brings me to number three.
3. Do something nice for someone else. Yes, that reduces stress so if you give a crocus to a neighbor or rake someone's yard or bake a batch of cookies and deliver them, you'll not only bring joy to another, but you'll increase your own joy.
4. Call mom. How I wish I could! But since my mom's deceased, I'm going to call my oldest aunts just to touch base with them, wish them well and let them know they're being thought of. I suspect someone might welcome a call from you.
5. Eat some chocolate. Ah, yes, especially dark chocolate. The youth at our church are selling child-labor free chocolate so buying that kind of treat not only helps a poor economy but also ensures a happy sigh or two when drawn from the Easter basket.
6. Gossip. I was surprised at this suggestion but then I remembered a writer's book that said writing allows people to do two very human things and not get in to trouble for it: daydreaming and gossiping. I suspect that's why Downton Abbey or Doc Martin are so popular: they allow us to gossip about the characters, laugh with them and shake our heads in wonder all in good fun and with the knowledge that we aren't hurting anyone at all with our words or clucked tongues. Safe gossiping about fictional characters reduces stress best.
7. Speaking of words... "open a book" is yet one more piece of good advice that I can get behind. It's said that even 20 minutes a day of reading can reduce stress. Could be why you'll see open books in the laps of people in hospital waiting rooms. Better to be lost in the world of story than thinking ahead about what the doctor is going to tell you when your loved one comes out of surgery or before you have your radiation appointment. Books are good friends.The good Book, the best friend of all.
8. Last but not least...bring your dog to work. Caesar is asleep on his pillow next to my desk and Bo is in the hallway waiting for me to dare to leave my office without waking him. Their presence is one of the joys of every month of my life. I hope you have a pet or two to help reduce your stress!
In 1928, Better Homes and Gardens did a four page spread on Hulda Klager's Lilac garden complete with beautiful photographs and an insightful article written by a woman named Ruth Graham Case. I wanted to find out more about that writer but couldn't, even with the internet. I created a character based on that reporter, though, and that article as part of Where Lilacs Still Bloom. My character's name is Cornelia Givens and she too encounters Hulda's garden and writes about it. What a nice surprise then in the 2012 April edition of Better Homes and Gardens to find a kind mention of my book and Hulda's garden on page 20. A good spring read! What a novel idea!
