Iona Winter

“So what’s your blog about?” a friend asked me yesterday, over a cold beer in the garden. I’m embarrassed to say I was at a loss with how to (succinctly) respond to her question. I burbled something like, “Oh you know…someone suggested I give it a go…um… it’ll help me with my writing…um…I’ve just started it.” I’m sure my friend was none the wiser, but I do wonder if she looked it up afterwards out of curiosity! 

In the shower this morning I thought (as you do) – Do I need to define my writing in terms of a genre? “AAHHH”, I cried loudly – surely not!! Thankfully the neighbours are away, otherwise they might have thought I was being attacked by the mutant child from the attic (see previous posts for further information) and called the police. The manhole, to said attic, is in the bathroom, so by way of simple deduction they may have assumed this was the case. Apologies, I digress.

My blog (is it really mine?) is intended to highlight laughter in everyday things, by way of a stream of consciousness. Sounds a wee bit flash that stream of consciousness bit eh? Or maybe not? Anyhow…on we go.

Most of my life has been filled with serious events. As a Capricorn I’ve adjusted to this like a fish to water (or perhaps I’ve had a foot in the sea and the other on land, being a Cappy). However, I’ve recently discovered that I’m able to laugh quite outrageously (sometimes attracting scathing stares from onlookers). I can (almost) hear them saying (to themselves or their companions) one/some/all of the following:

• What the hell is wrong with that woman?
• Why does she need to laugh so loudly?
• There must be something wrong with her (as they circle their index fingers in clockwise motions around their temples).
• Shut her up for gods sake, shut her up!
• Perhaps she forgot her meds this morning (said with a sad expression/frown).

I mean, who on earth laughs outrageously these days? What is there to laugh about? Life is a VERY serious business indeed.

Conversely, why do we (and I use the term ‘we’ loosely) feel the need to condense things, people and situations into little boxes? Why have we become so judgemental of each other? Why can’t we laugh outrageously whenever we want to? 

You my dear readers don’t need to answer these ponderings for me…relax…I have filing cabinets worth of answers. BUT I still question them BECAUSE it just doesn’t make sense to limit ourselves (and others) in such a controlling and narrow way. 

I share a home with an exceptionally talented musician (of course I’m biased, being his mother). Over the past 6 years or so we’ve had endless discussions about musical genre….trust me on this, there are thousands! Who would’ve thought something like ‘Sea Punk’ could exist – how can it even be described? We had a laugh about this (or rather he did at my expense) when we were at the beach yesterday swimming…Sea Punk indeed…(just quietly, I don’t mind a bit of Sea Punk).

With regard to genre and conformity, I must say defining myself into a pigeon-hole sized box is something I’ve always cringed at. Some (who know me well) might say I’ve been rebellious in my rejection of this. Why would I want to reduce myself to something less than the sum of my parts?  Society’s deep seated need to pigeon-hole (in a reductionist fashion) creates a deep unease in me. 

Once someone said to me, “You’re ahead of your time.”  I considered this bold statement afterwards. Being ahead of time sounds as though I’m some sort of time traveller, inhabiting a portal into and from the future. Maybe I am. Who knows these things? Some people might say that we are illusions to ourselves (and others). That we are merely particles inhabiting some field on a time/space continuum (quantum physics style). I do apologise again for my digression…where was I?

In a nutshell I won’t be conforming to any kind of box, genre-wise. Do I need to warm you up, my burgeoning group of followers, in terms of my ‘serious’ writing aka “The Novel” and how do I do that? Until I have the answers, I guess this blog will be a collection of eclectic, diverse and vast expanses of mood, sounds, shapes, voices and thoughts. I might even share some snippets of “The Novel” with you…watch this space.