The Writer's Life: We all Need a Happy Place

Do you have a happy place? A place you can go to where you feel better just by being there?

I found a happy place, and it was on my doorstep.

Just a few minutes walk from my home, there is a wildlife park. It is a large park with artificial lakes, and I frequently take walks there. Walking in the park has become part of my regular exercise routine. It also helps to clear the mind.

The park is a place where I go to escape the real world.

Back to nature.

I find that early morning is the best time to go, before the rest of the world wakes up. Apart from the occasional dog walker, it often feels like I am the only person in the park. That suits me fine, as there is a silence early in the morning that I haven’t noticed at any other time. That might just be me, but most of the time the only noise comes from the birds.

I’ve also walked through the park at night, early evening, mainly because it is a shortcut to another area of the city where there is a shopping centre. In winter, to say that it is dark at that time would be an understatement. While the lights of the city can be seen in the distance, the park is in total darkness. A torch is an absolute necessity. Despite the darkness, I have never felt unsafe, but it can be a spooky adventure!

But there are other benefits.

The Writer's Life: When Creativity Meets Doubt - Imposter Syndrome, the Creative Curse?

 

I must admit that I had never come across imposter syndrome until recently. I was on Twitter when someone, a self-published author, mentioned that they felt like they were not worthy of being called an author. 

That they felt like they were an imposter.  

There then followed a discussion on Imposter syndrome.

Around that time, it was announced in the UK that the TV chat show host and journalist Michael Parkinson had died.  Parkinson interviewed many famous people from all walks of life.  He was considered to be the best in the business, the UK equivalent of Johnny Carson.  

He was particularly good when talking to great story tellers, like David Niven and Peter Ustinov.  In the 1970s his weekly talk show was watched by millions of people. Film stars would fly in from all over the world to be a guest on his programme.

Then I read an article where his son Mike Parkinson said that his father had suffered from Imposter Syndrome, a feeling that he was not worthy of the undoubted success that he had achieved. He said that his famous father did not have as much self-confidence as he appeared to have on TV.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66605926

That came as a great surprise.

It's remarkable to think that someone who was so successful had so much self-doubt, but it does seem to happen quite a lot to those in the creative arts.  I'm sure that many who have a written a book, fiction or non-fiction, have wondered to themselves, “why would anyone want to read what I've written”. 

I've certainly had that self-doubt. 

When I was young, I would often hear people say things like “don't have ideas above your station” or “know your place”. It could be a class thing, that being from a certain background, you were not expected to achieve anything.  Michael Parkinson had working class roots, the people he worked for at the BBC were typically from a different background. 

Knowing your place is difficult to overcome. 

 

Image by Katrina_S from Pixabay