Trigger warning for those who want or need it: Suicide Ideation
"The readers in the world - regardless of how much or how little writing talent they have - become the people who succeed in life."
Unless they're me.
I am an abject failure.
I am burned out on reading, and on promoting other people's books.
I am discouraged about writing. Clearly, I can't cut it in the popular writing world, but I feel like I've been ousted from my own universe and can't get back in.
Nobody wants to read what I write, but I can't give the people what they want because what they want doesn't interest me.
52 Weeks of Writing encourages me to find an "accountability partner."
I'm already accountable. I am a fucking taskmaster. I won't cut myself a break. I'll sleep when I'm dead. And so on.
This is what I need:
I think that Stephen, being the King of Horror, has forgotten what it's like to not know if anyone needs or wants what you write. He knows that someone out there needs his stories.
Clearly, nobody needs or wants my stories. There will never be a single soul who says "boy, Story X by C.L. Hart really helped me through" or "wow, that poem by Ornery Owl really spoke to me," or even "that cheeky Lil DeVille's spicy stories cheered me up when I needed it."
If I haven't made it by almost 60, I'm not going to make it. Honestly, it's discouraging rather than inspiring to be in the company of people who have made it to some degree. I'm going to have to resign myself to the fact that my stories are just a coping mechanism to keep me from topping myself. I wanted something more from them and I wanted something more for them. They deserve better.
I'm sick of myself. I'm sick of this breakdown. I'm sick of living in a world of broken-down things that I don't have the money to fix or replace. I'm sick of living in poverty. I'm sick of all my health problems.
I've just spent over an hour trying to correct my whacked-out blood sugar. Having zombie organs floating around in my body doing jack shit is a fabulous adventure. Please do try it sometime.
On second thought, don't.
I considered shooting the moon with my insulin this morning. Just dialing the pen as far as it could go and saying goodbye to this failed existence. The only reason I didn't is that my son would be in dire circumstances without my help. It's strange how I can be indispensable and yet an utterly useless piece of shit all at the same time. Such a dichotomy I am.
Don't tell me to "get help." There isn't any. I don't trust counselors.
Don't tell me to "take medication." Psych meds make me psychotic. I don't enjoy being psychotic.
Don't tell me to "go to the ER." This isn't an emergency. This is suicide ideation. If I went to the ER every time I experienced suicide ideation, I'd have to live there. Being placed on a psych hold wouldn't help me, it would make things worse. I know what's wrong with me. I'm fucking discouraged and I'm sick of it all. I need a win and I'm not going to get one.
I'm going to have to do something else with my writing. Pursuing fame and money makes me depressed. Well, more depressed.
I'm going to have to go back to writing what I like to write.
I need to find the key to the gate of dreams again.
Lead on, Mr. Lovecraft.
The line about the key to my dreams is a reference to the story "The Silver Key" by H. P. Lovecraft. You can read the story here if you are so inclined.
The first few lines go a little bit something like this:
When Randolph Carter was thirty he lost the key of the gate of dreams. Prior to that time he had made up for the prosiness of life by nightly excursions to strange and ancient cities beyond space, and lovely, unbelievable garden lands across ethereal seas; but as middle age hardened upon him he felt those liberties slipping away little by little, until at last he was cut off altogether.
Lovecraft was writing about himself when he penned this story. He struggled with depression including suicide ideation just like yours truly.
The story's protagonist, Randolph Carter, is actually a bit of a dick. He brings misery to the life of the hapless Yaddithian wizard Zkauba. My yet-to-be-edited novel "The Wizard's Key" includes a sympathetic account of Zkauba's plight, which led him to call on Nyarlathotep to free him from Carter's influence.
I hope it isn't too late to re-open the gate.
Perhaps it would be best if I slept for another couple of hours. We're going to try the journey to my mother's house once again today.
Spirit of the Universe, please help me recapture the joy that writing once gave me. Please help me remember what's important. It isn't validation. Still, it hurts seeing so many other people winning when I seem to do nothing but lose.
~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~
Free use image from Pixabay
Resource Books:
The Icky, Sticky, Nit-Picky Legalese If You Please (Or Don't Please)
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