In my ongoing determination to keep my old gray cells firing, I like to try new things. Well, sort of. Unfortunately I think my upbringing "taught" me to be overly cautious, stay safe, etc. You won't be seeing me jumping out of a plane, that's for sure. But I love writing and have recently been taking a class on fiction writing. Immersed as I am in personal essays and reality (not TV) accounts, I have always acknowledged: I simply don't do fiction. Now,in the throes of getting made-up characters to "tell" me where they want to go next, I am feeling both challenged and a little excited. Frankly, it's kind of fun! (Of course I haven't gotten to the revision stage yet!) So, that's what I'm writing these days; what am I reading?

With a gift card to my favorite book store in hand (Bank Square Books in  Mystic), I bought a book I've been meaning to read for ages and knew I'd want to own: Still Alice by Lisa Genova. This novel lets us inside the mind of someone diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's. I think it's clear why I had to read it and also why I'd put it off. Finding the emotional energy to read about something that is equivalent to walking into a dark alley is difficult. Having lived through my mother's dementia and experienced that long good-bye, I wasn't sure I'd ever have the guts to read this book. I'm glad I am doing so now. Stories, real, imagined or a combination of both offer ways to get in touch with our feelings. Sometimes that is a scary thing, something we avoid to preserve our fragile frame of mind. Still, I remember that feelings are just there --never right or wrong. And to face them, air them out, respect them, is a step toward a better frame of mind --  one that's more honest and in the end more free.