The Reclusive Writer

blogging, humour, writing, 39 Comments

Should you choose to visit, you’ll be received with old-fashioned charm – ours is a simple cottage: furniture well-worn, muted hues to warm you, and a kettle always brewing. Clutter attests to our relaxed lifestyle, welcoming you to kick back and relax. Weather permitting, we’ll sit out back, surrounded by a forest of mature trees and the delightful songs of the many birds who drop by our feeders.

If you’re looking for the writer, you’ll be disappointed. She cannot be found in social spaces, shies away from sunny settings, and does not a good hostess make.

Seclusion is her home of choice. Spends her days, nose under throw rugs, looking for what’s been swept aside; or rustling about in back closets, turning over the unused and out-of-date; or straddling the boards in the attic, straining to ascertain new, if not precarious, angles.

It is not that she abhors company; it’s just that she is interminably introspective – has overthought her position within society and emerged on the side of agoraphobia.

Please don’t let her lack of courtesy deter you; we are fond of visitors here. As for the writer, while you may not see her, she will, no doubt, be watching you.

(The Reclusive Writer first appeared here April, 2016. This version has been edited. Image my own)

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Permission to write, paint, and imagine are the gifts I gave myself when chronic illness hit - a fair exchange: being for doing. Relevance is an attitude. Humour essential.

39 thoughts on “The Reclusive Writer”

  5. I can relate to this, VJ. Most days I enjoy being at home, especially as of late. With that said, I also like to stay in touch with neighbors and friends. It’s rare that we socialize these days.

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  7. It sounds welcoming and then — not quite! My social skills have atrophied. Forgot to invite my neighbor in when she came by last week – we stood in the driveway in blustery wind. So I rectified it with an invitation to tea today – delightful! (And no, no writing done today.)😊

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    1. Glad you found yourself, although agoraphobia can be awfully paralyzing (as I know from experience.). Teetering on the edge is far enough. Thanks.

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  12. I love this poem and can relate most definitely to both the warm welcome (kettle always on the boil) and the reclusive writer sifting through the old and the new of life’s offering. Raise a glass to introspection. Someone has to keep a watch on all and then reflect back to us in well-chosen words what we experience. Thank you!

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  15. Agoraphobia eh? I’ve been living that way all my life but at the same time the thing I want to do most is go out. Its like shadow boxing, nobody wins. 🕶

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