Really struggling to find enough things to be positive about this past week, which has been marred by headaches and insomnia. But as long as I have books, plays and music, it cannot be all bad, right?
- I tidied up my bedside tables and bookshelves, as the new purchases were interfering with my geographical shelving.
2. I donated a massive bag full of books to the local library, but I also bought books this week, so my balance is probably zero.
3. Speaking of mother/son relationships, I watched yet another emotionally gruelling play Mother of Him by Evan Placey at the Park Theatre. A play to make the audience think, laugh, cry and gasp out loud! It’s about a family (and especially the mother, who is being judged by everyone) going to pieces when the older son is accused of raping three girls in one night. It should come with a flashing red warning for single mothers of teenage boys – especially when the actor who plays the 17 year old son has the skinny body type of my own 16 year old!
4. ROH Live Encore at my local culture centre: Mozart’s Don Giovanni. One of my favourite operas, can never get enough of it and have watched many a wacky production. This beautiful Jack Furness revival of the Kasper Holten production featured a charismatic Erwin Schrott in the title role, a Don Ottavio I could finally empathise with (Daniel Behle) and an amazing if rather discombobulating set with video projections. It hasn’t quite dethroned my current favourite version: this ‘hipster edition’ live recording from the Festival international d’Art lyrique d’Aix-en-Provence in July 2017.
5. Sadly, I didn’t make it to this month’s writing group meeting, but I’ll be taking part in the Charity Write-a-thon we are organising in Windsor on the 16th of November. All the money we raise will go to Mind. If you do feel inspired to sponsor me, please visit my fundraising page here.
findingtimetowrite 
Ugh! Insomnia… I always recommend Colin Espie’s Overcoming Insomia and Sleep Problems which helped me a great deal. Doesn’t work for everyone but it might be worth a try.
I have the book – not sure if it was you or someone else who recommended it to me three years ago, when the insomnia was really debilitating, but it did help. Now it’s more the case that I get headaches while sleeping and they are so bad they wake me up…
Oh, that’s grim. I hope it eases soon for you.
It’s hard to feel cheerful when you are sleep deprived. I’m going on a sleep and mindfulness workshop next month to try and nail the problem of waking at 4.30am regularly….
Ah, yes, I had one of those 4 am wake-up calls for a couple of years and it was quite depleting of energy and hope. Wish you luck and strength to solve the issue!
Headaches and insomnia are an abysmal pair… I hope you manage to get through them as soon as possible and then have all the energy and happiness to enjoy everything! 🙂
What a really neat shelf. Hope you feel better soon. I have a cold so no energy whatsoever
Loving your bookish bedside table! Hope you are feeling a bit better this week Marins.
Sorry about the headaches and tiredness – sounds rotten, and you need to give yourself plenty of time and TLC. But books and plays and music sound like a brilliant solution, and I’m not going to apologise for my nefarious bookish influence…. ! :DDD
I’m sorry to hear you’ve had insomnia and headaches plaguing you this week, Marina Sofia. But I do love your bookshelf arrangement. And I always love the feeling of donating books. It’s not even the whole ‘charity’ thing; it’s sharing the books, if that makes sense. And I’m glad you’ve had the time for some cultural things, too. Here’s hoping for a better week this week.
Sorry you are having such a difficult time at present and that it has dragged on for so long. I wish you light and laughter (and many good nights of sleep) when you finally get to the end of this tunnel.
I’ve found a way to fight insomnia: I switch on the radio on France Culture. I start listening, my mind gets off whatever loop it was stuck into and pouf!, the dull sound of the radio makes me drift off. 🙂
I hope it gets better for you soon. Take care.
I hope you feel better soon. I’m struggling to sleep at night, it has slowed down my reading and blogging. I love your tables and shelves. It’s lovely and inspiring! xxx
Wishing you a speedy reprieve from the headaches and insomnia, Marina Sofia, it sounds rotten.