You’ve heard of ‘delusions of grandeur’. In my world, it’s quite possible delusions of silence is the same thing…
Most of us require something to keep our focus on the task at hand. The white noise of the vacuum cleaner can be soothing. Classical music on the office intercom is a balm for some and as bad as nails on a chalkboard for others. Maybe you thrive on routine or the daily adventure of an unpredictable schedule.
As an author, I indulged in some fun world building for my paranormal romance novels and plopped my cast of characters in 2096 Chicago. The regulation of caffeine, sugar, and nicotine is just one facet of the world building for the books. There’s a whole lot more world building I’ve had to create, just to get the books written.
Hence my delusions of silence.
I frequently have to pretend that the two cats aren’t misbehaving or that the loud crash followed by feline silence can be ignored. Not that my cats frequently misbehave, but they’re cats, and they have their own agendas. The big, black kitty has become an expert in ways to attract my attention: like startling the finches so that the happy sounds they make (the equivalent of white noise in my office) are disrupted. Now that he has my attention, don’t I want to give him a love to keep him out of trouble?
The finches are quite content to help me write, though there is usually a place in each day when the happy song gives way to goofy, louder sounds. Then I must make sure they’re not being threatened by a cat or a snuffling greyhound. Finding them safe, I quickly return to the world building within the paranormal novel and reclaim my delusion of silence as I go about my work.
The greyhounds are nearly always perfect (that’s why they get their own blog space on Saturdays). I only need to activate my delusion of silence once I’ve confirmed Brody’s cries are to move Boo rather than summon me to watch him drink water or go outside. The delusion of silence is also activated when I need to get the last few thoughts into the draft before addressing Bandit’s whistles (a silly precursor to the NEED for playtime).
I’ve done some edgy world building for my paranormal romance novels, but that’s a cake walk compared to the world building I’ve done to create those novels in the first place. Even so, I wouldn’t trade any one of my domestic ‘zoo’ for real silence. That would probably make me crazy.
Live the adventure!
