Living the dream, pleasure writing on a train.
Living the partial dream, anyway, just on a quick (2 hour) trip in coach. The real dream would be pleasure writing in my own sleeper compartment on a multi-night solitary cross-country adventure on the Empire Builder, or at least the Coast Starlight to San Diego.
It was good to take a practical trial run to test the dream; it was almost too bouncy to write by hand, and the tray was not quite big enough. But maybe that adds to the romance? That and the people behind & next to me who apparently didn’t receive the messages through pandemic years to cover their mouths when they cough. Oh well.
My destination was unfortunately not dreamy as I was actually heading to visit my mom for a couple nights and go to one of her chemo sessions with her. I’m fantasizing about finding a way to combine pleasure writing with ambience video-making with travels back and forth to visit my mom, though. I have this desire to collect sounds like black glitter to soothe myself and others into magical deep sleep swaddled in blankets of sound and sweet visions. Looking at the calming programming they had on in the chemotherapy infusion booths, I know there is at least a little demand for (and room for variety in) videos in that genre.
Having a journal and soft fat pack of pens on a trip like this one loaded with hard life and family challenges is so important (at least, for me). Being in the habit of turning to pen and paper to process emotions and untangle thoughts is super helpful and relieves a lot of stress and confusion.
Writing things down is like clearing a trail towards more objective vantage points. Its also good to take notes and document things when there are appointments and treatments and medical details to keep track of so you don’t have to try to commit it all to memory. I find it more useful, efficient and coherent than trying to tap everything onto a phone screen.
