I’m a naturally twitchy person and there’s a lot to be terrified of right now. Like the epidemic that’s keeping me close to home. The current governmental situation makes me want to hum the Apocalype song from Revolutionary Girl Utena.
I look up and expect to see an inverted White House, floating and rotating in the sky until chunks of it start falling, smashing into America. Yes, I’m probably giving too much ritualistic dignity to the current situation but ritual comforts me in times of terror.
I live in a land filled with enemies whom might hurt me or those I care for in their ignorance, for they’re caught up in their own terror. And let’s not forget the weather, the fires burning up my state, at times turning the sky an apocalyptic orange.
This is all fuel for creativity, for inspiration, if I can stop trembling and write about it. The best way to get going is to use a carrot/stick method, for I’ve already got the stick in the form of my terror, but what can I use for a carrot?
Two possibilities come to me. I can find either the beauty or the humor in my own terror. The menacing glow of the sky could be considered beautiful. It suggests an almost alien atmosphere where creature of fire reign. Trying to find the humor in my terror is a frequent coping method of mine, whether or not the funny makes its way to the written page. Perhaps I should try to coax more of that funny onto the page.
How about you, dear reader? How do you cope with your terror? Have you found ways of channeling your fear into your work?