I’m happy to report that I am not the only one who has
noticed this is definitely a weird time of year. I’ve been struggling with
productivity for weeks now. I can spend hours at my desk and then discover that
I’ve accomplished absolutely nothing. I have deadlines looming, but that doesn’t
make me work any faster. I keep a calendar in front of me, but I more often
look at the pictures than the dates. Oh, and the deskpad one with its “color-me”
border! Whatever made me think it would be a good idea to have coloring book
access at my fingertips all day long, along with a whole mug full of pretty
colored pencils. So, is there an explanation for all of this silliness (or
sheer laziness)? Well, a friend in England tells me it’s because of Mercury
being in retrograde for almost the entire month of March. And what does that
mean? I’m not sure I understand it myself but it has to do with the planet
Mercury appearing to move backward in the sky. No, it’s not defying the laws of
the universe. It’s the same phenomenon that sometimes makes the wheels of a car
appear to be turning backward while the car is actually moving forward—something
about the speed at which our brains can assimilate visual data, I suppose. Still, it’s discombobulating and confusing,
and throws our reasoning abilities into a tailspin. Then there’s the equinox theory offered recently by a
well-known blogging superstar. She insists that twice a year, during the spring
and fall equinox periods, she experiences a burning in her chest that warns of
disruptive life changes. The theory
there? Something about the seasons. In the middle of summer, days seem to last
forever, and the bright sun lets us know we should be busily planting corn, or
whatever. And in the midst of deep winter, the days are short. We can almost pull
the drapes in mid-afternoon, light a candle or two, and then hurry off to bed
for a long winter’s nap because only a silly old man in a red suit would go out
with a troop of reindeer in that kind of weather. But during an equinox, the
day and night are about the same length, and who knows what we are supposed to
be doing? Confusion reigns, and we feel torn between two opposite desires—to
sunbathe or hibernate. Now imagine what happens when the equinox and Mercury in
Retrograde occur in the same two-week period! No wonder I’m not getting much
done. I have my excuses all lined up and I’m sticking to them. However, I’m
going out on a limb here and making a couple of announcements about what I intend
to be doing in the next few weeks. First, I’ve set the date for the launch of
my new book, “Henrietta’s Legacy,” for Thursday, April 18. That’s
just five weeks from tomorrow. And between now and then I’ll be tempting you
with tidbits of information designed to make you want to buy it. We’ll start
with a cover reveal—currently scheduled for tomorrow! |