When Virginia Woolf wrote A Room of One’s Own she was speaking of women’s emancipation from men, and she was speaking of a physical room, but nowadays it is both women and men who are increasingly in need of a space of their own, be it a physical space or a mental one, or as Mike writes below, a virtual one where we can have the leeway to say what we wish (or as much as Twitter allows us!).
His words resonate with me as, living a solitary life, Twitter is also my place to go to to talk and debate. They also evoked emotions within our resident poet Mel Cakey who follows up Mike’s piece with her beautiful poem.
Sheds and Sewing Room
By Mike Coulson
Every man needs a shed, everyone needs a sewing room. I don’t mean a physical place in which a man can tinker with motorbikes while his wife exercises her artistic abilities. I mean a place where each can go to be alone and recharge their batteries. I can imagine many loving mothers would be thankful for an hour of peace and quiet.
I’m not talking about having a physical space of one’s own, very few can afford that and I’m one of the lucky ones. I set up a virtual shed with a secondary account on Twitter, a place to retreat to if things were getting me down while still maintaining my primary account for campaigning (an account with less than 100 followers is useless for campaigning when my other account has 25.6k).
I’ve opened up the shed recently but I may close it again. I want to keep it as a politics free zone until such time as Twitter decides to terminate my account, something that’s happened to several comrades! It’s a form of insurance if you like, like being evicted from one’s home and having to live in the shed.
I’m using a metaphor but for many comrades it’s a reality! It has been for me. We all need somewhere to escape to mentally if not physically. I’ll give you a personal example?
I’d just returned from Australia and was living with my mother who treated me like a child although I was 50yrs old. She cornered me in her conservatory once and started haranguing me. That’s when the fight or flight mechanism kicked in.
Fight was out of the question, you don’t hit your mother whatever the provocation.
Flight was impossible, it would’ve meant using my body to smash through two layers of plate glass.
I was hyperventilating at the end of it took myself off to the place I would always choose if I want to be alone.
I’m alone now anyway, quite reclusive in fact. I rarely go out and my main contact with the outside world is via Twitter. It hurts me more than you can imagine when an old friend blocks me or simply disappears of my radar.
I’ve had a few good friends that I fear are deceased, but I don’t know! I’ld prefer to know the worst than be left in doubt. I’m making sure that doesn’t happen in my case, I have friends who will keep you informed.
To end on a more positive note, I was well enough yesterday to do a bit of cleaning while allowing iPad to recharge. I think I may have overdosed on my medicine, vodka at present 😅
“What is meant by “reality”? It would seem to be something very erratic, very undependable—now to be found in a dusty road, now in a scrap of newspaper in the street, now a daffodil in the sun.
Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own
We All need a little bit of ‘Me Time’.
By Mel Cakey
Our lives are always very busy
And we seldom get a quiet day.
The daily grind can get on top of us
And we need a little break someway.
Our children demand attention,
We must go to work and clean and cook
Our partners need us for support,
There’s little time to read a book.
The dog needs walking twice a day,
The carpet is covered with crumbs,
The kitchen floor wants mopping,
And the kids need help with their sums.
The daily news is depressing
With its talk of Brexit and strife.
Which politicians are high on drugs
And doing the dirty on their wife.
Sometimes it all gets on top of us
And we need some ‘me’ time alone,
Just an hour or so of peace and quiet
And far from our mobile phone.
We all need a little bit of ‘me’ time
To give our busy minds a break,
Between mowing the grass and painting the wall
An hour is all it will take.
We all need to go to our ‘quiet space’,
We need our “sewing room” or “shed”.
We just need to take a short break
And do something just for us instead.
We don’t all have extra space in our home.
We don’t all have a garden or spare room.
But just a chair in the corner will do us,
Huddled up next to the broom.
Sometimes we just need a walk in the woods
Or maybe a nice long shower.
Perhaps sit down and play the guitar
Or do a crossword for half an hour.
Some people like to paint pictures
Or maybe strip down their bike.
Others might crochet or sew or knit,
As long as it’s something we like.
It’s important to get this ‘me’ time
As it gives our busy minds a re-set.
Time to un-clog our thinking,
To re-charge and temporarily forget.
All of our cups runneth over sometimes
And we all need a bit of hush.
We all need our ‘shed’ or ‘sewing room’
Now, where did I put my brush..?
The End.