I was very lucky to have grown up with highly literate parents. My mother and father both graduated with journalism degrees from Northwestern University. I was read to constantly. Most of my summer mornings were spent at the beach and my afternoons at the local library. In my family it wasn't Christmas without a book. When my parents divorced, my mother married another highly literate man, this man was a math professor and loved to read and he brought science and math and computer books into my life. This was and has been both a blessing and a curse. It's probably the reason I ended up being an English major and reading all the novels of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky in one class in one semester. I know it's the reason that for my past 3 moves, I have been paying the movers to move my 3 TONS, yes, that's 3,000 lbs. of books I currently own.
What it has also done is helped me in my creativity. My mother used to love telling the story of how I cried one day because when we were on our way back from one of our many trips to the library, I saw an inside-out umbrella and said "it's dead." I've always been able to use reading and writing as an escape. A book would help me understand that I could make it through my parents divorce. A book was a place to go to when I didn't want to talk to anyone. When I didn't want to tell my parents something bad had happened in school, I was able to write a letter which explained my behavior. When I fell in love with one of my teaching assistants in college and then found out he was married, I spent the evening writing poetry and short stories so that I wouldn't do something more drastic.
The best thing about reading and writing though is that it is free. All it costs is your time. And yes, if you buy books, it does cost money, but not all that much. It's one of my simple pleasures. One of the things that makes my life happier, more interesting, and undoubtedly saner.
The other good thing about being creative is that when Christmas or birthdays come around, I can create a unique gift. One that doesn't cost much, but that the person will cherish forever because it truly comes from the heart. I wrote a silly parody poem for my boss who was retiring at the ABA and he loved it so much he showed HIS boss. I remember I bought my boyfriend Eric a new MacBook Pro, a Thomas Hardy shirt, some nice cologne, some chocolate and other things for Christmas last year. His favorite gift? A 3 page note on all the reasons I love him.
But I am getting away from the original point of this blog. My mother, who passed away 11 years ago, was always getting aggravated at things, traffic, people at stores, lines in restaurants, etc. She would always say "In MY country, this wouldn't be allowed." So one year for Christmas, my step-father (who also passed away 11 years ago), decided that it was time for my mother to get her own country. He bought a small piece of wood and carved it in the shape of Norway (my mother's name was very Norwegian, Ronnveig ), and we packed it in a box, along with a Your Own Country "Starter Kit." She got to name her country, "Tisofthe'" was the name she came up with. (I told you my family was creative). We gave her peasants, loyal followers, many fjords, a navy, a firing squad (to execute criminals), towns, etc. She loved it! Every year for Christmas (or her birthday which was about 10 days after), we would give her something else for Tisofthe'. One year she got a model DC-9 (minus the wings), which is what the Queen chose to drive around in (and of course, no one else was allowed on the roads when she was on them.) Another year, I gave her a booklet, fully illustrated, that I had created describing each of the Royal Residences. She had a Castle, a Beach House, a City Apartment, a Lodge in the Woods, and, because I loved horses, a Royal Stables. The next year she got a University and she got to decide who to accept, decline, what kinds of degrees you could earn there, the sports teams, etc. The final year that she and my step-father were both alive, I gave her the Crown Jewels of Tisofthe'. They were presented to her on a velvet pillow, along with a crown and replacement jewels if she so needed.
This is one of the fondest memories I have of my mother, and it's a great idea. (I probably should have marketed it and made a million dollars). I've been thinking a lot about this as I make the 30 mile commute to work each day and back. In MY country, you wouldn't be allowed to stop if you are in the left lane, people who slow down while answering or dialing their cell phones would be blown up by the hidden cannon in my car, and anyone talking loudly at the movies would be permanently banished.
So the next time you're yelling at a traffic jam, or fed up with the person at the store you are shopping at, just close your eyes and say to yourself "In MY country...."
