A writer, not a wroter

“There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.” ~ Jane Austen

The fireside for the Cricket Writer,
The wheatstack for the Mouse,
When trembling night-winds whistle
And moan all round the house…

(With apologies to William Allingham and his “Robin Redbreast”)

On this dark and rainy winter’s day, I am home alone. After a week of teaching talk-talk-talk, the silence of a quiet house–with only the snap and pop of a wood fire to bear me company–is almost heaven. And I am writing.

Meaning that today I am a writer, not a wroter. Lately I’ve been looking to find enjoyment in the process of putting words on the page (a writer). Instead of my usual thing, which is to revel only in the polished, finished work (a wroter).

I’m also loving every minute of dodging my frantic to-do list. Who needs housework, right? This chore-avoidance is called “selective neglect.” Without it, books stay unfinished.

Do you enjoy being home alone? Read on. We are not the only ones.

“Stay, stay at home, my heart, and rest;
Home-keeping hearts are happiest.”
~ Henry W. Longfellow

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“There is no place more delightful than one’s own fireside.”
Nullus est locus domestica sede jucundior.
~ Cicero

*   *   *

“Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to.”
~ John Ed Pearce

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“If ever household affections and loves are graceful things, they are graceful in the poor. The ties that bind the wealthy and the proud to home may be forged on earth, but those which link the poor man to his humble hearth are of the true metal and bear the stamp of heaven.”
~ Charles Dickens