I don't think there isn't a person out there who hasn't dealt with some sort of stress in their lives. I know have in the past. And I'm sure I will in the future. The point is that stress will factor somewhere in our lives, it's a given, despite our best efforts to live stress free. So, I contemplated, what do I do, where do I turn to when I'm stressed. You got it. Comfort food. Comfort books.
Let's start with comfort food. First of all I love food. I'm not exactly a foodie, where I hunt down new dishes to try and to explore, but I do love to eat. Trust me when I say, I'm curvy. And when I get the attack of the comfort food munchies I get curvier! My preferred choice when I'm down low or overwhelmed with financial concerns, I break open a bag of salty chips. Okay, now I break open a bag of half salt salty chips or an Orville Redenbacher popcorn snack pack. And I can't have salty without the sweet. So chocolate, in any form, and if in a pinch chocolate chip cookies would do.
Of course, eating comfort has a vicious cycle, because once I start to feel better from all that salty sweetness, my body feels wonky. I try to eat healthy so comfort food is not my friend as I once thought it would be. However, the idea of eating these foods trigger a sensation of finding a sliver of peace, even if it's for a moment. The trick, I learned after the yo-yo effect of gaining and losing weight and seeking that comfort in food is to...I wish I could say exercise but I won't lie. Sure, I exercise I walk 4 kilometres a day and walk jog on the treadmill, 2-3 times a week. No, now when I'm overwhelmed I read.
I'm an avid reader. There is no doubt if you walk into my family room and find books scattered about, some in disarray while others gathered in neat slots on the shelves. And I can't tell you how many books I have downloaded to my Kindle! Reading may have saved my waist line and tapered my rising cholesterol count, but reading my comfort books saved the inner me.
A few years ago, my mother died quite suddenly. I was living with her at the time. One moment she was in the driveway climbing into an ambulance that we called and immediately the paramedics performed CPR on her. They couldn't move her, because they couldn't stabilize her. Forty-five minutes later she died in an ambulance on her driveway.
I walked in a fog for nearly a year and surprising I didn't eat comfort food as much as I thought I would. Perhaps, I was still too numb and in shock. It wasn't until November the following year when I bought my Kindle, the first day it was released in Canada. And I downloaded my first four favourite erotic romance writers. Gabrielle Evans, Joyee Flynn, Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen.
These wonderful authors didn't realise that when I bought and read their books, I was slowly healing my pain. Each time I opened a new book, my stress lessened and my heart didn't ache as much. Their characters and witty dialogue transported me into a place that gave me comfort and peace for a few hours. Something I desperately needed, to find myself again from the mountain of pain that was slowly crushing me.
I fell in love with each new story and their books reminded me that I still have a lot of love inside of me. I didn't die with my mother. I was still here, but I wasn't present. Then one day, I had a dream and the dream sparked a story, and the story became a novel. And now the novel is published.
Even now when I'm stressed, I turn on my Kindle and search the multitude of e-books and find my favourite four authors and start from the beginning. My comfort books.
I no longer seek comfort food and my butt and belly are grateful. However, keeping up with my favourite authors causes my bank account to cringe, but I do what I can.
I realise now that the reason I write erotic romances is not only to tell the story that is swirling inside me waiting to bust out, but also to hopefully give a moment of peace to those who pick up my novel and find comfort within the pages.
We all have our reasons to find comfort from the trials of living our lives. Some are better than others. However, though my heart ached and I felt pain I found peace and passion, and it was from opening a favourite book, my comfort books.
Find your peace and take care.
Let's start with comfort food. First of all I love food. I'm not exactly a foodie, where I hunt down new dishes to try and to explore, but I do love to eat. Trust me when I say, I'm curvy. And when I get the attack of the comfort food munchies I get curvier! My preferred choice when I'm down low or overwhelmed with financial concerns, I break open a bag of salty chips. Okay, now I break open a bag of half salt salty chips or an Orville Redenbacher popcorn snack pack. And I can't have salty without the sweet. So chocolate, in any form, and if in a pinch chocolate chip cookies would do.
Of course, eating comfort has a vicious cycle, because once I start to feel better from all that salty sweetness, my body feels wonky. I try to eat healthy so comfort food is not my friend as I once thought it would be. However, the idea of eating these foods trigger a sensation of finding a sliver of peace, even if it's for a moment. The trick, I learned after the yo-yo effect of gaining and losing weight and seeking that comfort in food is to...I wish I could say exercise but I won't lie. Sure, I exercise I walk 4 kilometres a day and walk jog on the treadmill, 2-3 times a week. No, now when I'm overwhelmed I read.
I'm an avid reader. There is no doubt if you walk into my family room and find books scattered about, some in disarray while others gathered in neat slots on the shelves. And I can't tell you how many books I have downloaded to my Kindle! Reading may have saved my waist line and tapered my rising cholesterol count, but reading my comfort books saved the inner me.
A few years ago, my mother died quite suddenly. I was living with her at the time. One moment she was in the driveway climbing into an ambulance that we called and immediately the paramedics performed CPR on her. They couldn't move her, because they couldn't stabilize her. Forty-five minutes later she died in an ambulance on her driveway.
I walked in a fog for nearly a year and surprising I didn't eat comfort food as much as I thought I would. Perhaps, I was still too numb and in shock. It wasn't until November the following year when I bought my Kindle, the first day it was released in Canada. And I downloaded my first four favourite erotic romance writers. Gabrielle Evans, Joyee Flynn, Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen.
These wonderful authors didn't realise that when I bought and read their books, I was slowly healing my pain. Each time I opened a new book, my stress lessened and my heart didn't ache as much. Their characters and witty dialogue transported me into a place that gave me comfort and peace for a few hours. Something I desperately needed, to find myself again from the mountain of pain that was slowly crushing me.
I fell in love with each new story and their books reminded me that I still have a lot of love inside of me. I didn't die with my mother. I was still here, but I wasn't present. Then one day, I had a dream and the dream sparked a story, and the story became a novel. And now the novel is published.
Even now when I'm stressed, I turn on my Kindle and search the multitude of e-books and find my favourite four authors and start from the beginning. My comfort books.
I no longer seek comfort food and my butt and belly are grateful. However, keeping up with my favourite authors causes my bank account to cringe, but I do what I can.
I realise now that the reason I write erotic romances is not only to tell the story that is swirling inside me waiting to bust out, but also to hopefully give a moment of peace to those who pick up my novel and find comfort within the pages.
We all have our reasons to find comfort from the trials of living our lives. Some are better than others. However, though my heart ached and I felt pain I found peace and passion, and it was from opening a favourite book, my comfort books.
Find your peace and take care.
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