In the Belly of the Beast

An acquaintance emailed me last week wanting to know if I had taken off in Wanda and driven into the sunset.

I wish.

Instead, I answered him, I have been swallowed whole by my job and am now living in the belly of a merger/acquisition and all that entails. To be truthful, the merger has less to do with my immersion in my workplace than the simple phenomenon of business getting better. As it does, the workload naturally increases and unfortunately the time to do it doesn’t. So, a job that I had hoped would be something like cruise control for me, is anything but.

Oh, don’t get me wrong. I’m smart enough to be grateful for my employment in these times, however the time to write – the thing for which I live and breathe – has been limited. There are times when I’m tempted to fault myself. After all, a writer writes. However, I’ve come to realize that the part of my brain that makes me function successfully in the business world is a hinderance to the creative in me. I must forcefully turn it off when I attempt to let the words flow and that, my friends, is no easy task.

But, three weekends ago I managed to finish the first draft of my third novel, one I’m convinced will kick off a series of books featuring the heroine I’ve grown to love, and I can now employ the business brain to assess, fact-check, find holes, etc.

So, as I bounce off the gray interior of the Business Beast’s belly in the coming weeks, I will remember to draw its strength into my story. When I’ve managed to finish my rewrite, I’m afraid I’ll have find someway out of the belly. Now how did Jonah accomplish that? Or Pinocchio?

To Gray or Not to Gray

I was at an event this weekend that caused me to think twice about a recent move I had made from naturally graying hair back to “enhanced” color.

An elegant woman with very beautiful gray hair, who was obviously not old enough to have this color hair normally sat a long table’s length from me and I couldn’t take my eyes off her hair. There was a tad of the black it must have once been still peeking out between strands of hair the color of pewter, but much more shiny.

For about a year and a half, I tried to nuture the gray on my own head to multiply and cover it sexily, preferably just like Jamie Lee Curtis. Now, that’s a woman who knows how to wear gray.

However, my own hair is still a ways from the glittery stage and insisted on looking simply mousey. So, as much I desire to don a head full of silvery tresses, it’s not be for a few more years.

I have been bombarded by the incredulous comments of younger women who are horrified by a “choice” to go gray. It is beyond their comprehension that anyone would proudly wear white hair. I simply chuckle and wonder at their youth. They may easily change their views when their own hair turns on them. I hope so, because so often gray is softer and more lovely that the harsh colors some women insist on adding and nudging the lines in their faces cruelly.

So, I say – gray when you can and if it looks as great on you as the stunning lady I stared at this weekend.