Before you start dialling the men in white coats – let me just say: I am not a secret superhero chick who runs around with my undies on the outside looking to clobber baddies. Let’s get that straight. I may turn into dragon lady when the clock strikes bedtime, but that is something between me and my kidlets and certainly not what I’m on about today.

I do lead a double life though and it’s becoming more difficult to keep my alter-ego stuffed away in the closet on the days she’s not allowed out. You see, in my normal life, I do design work for my church from home. They’re a lovely bunch, you should meet them sometime. (www.hcc.org.za)  There are rhythms to this work that means for two weeks of each month, writer-Di gets banished as designer-Di gets caught up in chasing articles, photos, layout & design and print deadlines. Once the vicious deadline-monster is fed, writer-Di can come out to play.

This sounds like a workable arrangement and – believe me when I say  – I am utterly thankful for a shift in my working life that has freed up some writing time and brain space. My insides are alive again! So here’s the catch:

During the two non-writing weeks, my brain accumulates ideas and possible stories like leaves in a pool on a windy day. By the time I open the closet door, the spread of things-I-could-write-about is so vast and varied I get a bit bunny in the headlights – frozen and overwhelmed. So I go make a cup of tea.  And come back and look at the leaves and decide maybe another cup is in order.

I’ve tried ‘just writing a little bit’ during deadline fortnight and I’ve learnt my lesson… Bad idea. I get sucked in and swallowed up and when I look again I’ve got six hungry eyes demanding dinner and a deadline that promises sleepless nights to be fed.

So there you have it. I’m queen of the charade, master of the flip-flop. I make sure my two halves stay on seperate sides of the room and nobody gets hurt. As for all the leaves in my pool? Methinks its far better to have too many ideas than none at all.

Blow inspiration wind, blow!

Sending a leaf hurricane your way…