Gone With The Wind – yadadarcyyada

“Never put off
till tomorrow
what you can
do day after
tomorrow
just as well.”
-Mark TwainI’m a pro at procrastination, no amateur stuff for me. I wish I could stop procrastinating, but I keep postponing it. I do it when blogging, postponing writing posts – I tell myself it’s a lack of energy, lack of time, lack of ideas – I wish those were truths, but like most cases of procrastination, my real issue, fear. If I delay doing something, it can’t fail.

My procrastination is getting worse, becoming a chronic condition. Is it the amount of choices? Time inconsistency? Self-censorship? Constant interruptions? Laziness? Lack of focus? We all put off doing things, but when does it move to acting against your best interests, your better judgement, when does procrastination take over your common sense?

What if I’m not even a pro procrastinator, but just an amateur stresstinator? https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/04/05/overwhelmed/Either way, I need to get out of my head, out of my own way, so I ignored the Scarlett O’Hara voice in my head, telling me to think about it tomorrow (after all, tomorrow is another day)… Then fiddle-dee-dee, I called/emailed/talked to who I needed (note I did not use the word “wanted”) to contact, and even wrote this post; giggling (mostly in my head), thinking of Carol Burnett’s “Went With The Wind”.

The cure for procrastination? I want to say chocolate (I know who my date is for Valentine’s Day)… Wishful thinking aside, it’s a mystery to me – I’ll push through the Crapathy https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/05/25/crapathy/ – try for more: courage, conviction, and compassion https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/02/20/compassion-never-goes-out-of-style/ keeping in mind, some things are better when we wait for them.

“I’ll think about it tomorrow, after all, tomorrow is another day.” 1read3
Margaret Mitchell may have written the words of Gone With The Wind, but it’s Scarlett O’Hara we think of when we read or hear them.

Elizabeth Bennet      Anne Shirley    Daisy Buchanan
   Auntie Mame    Catherine Earnshaw    Nancy Drew
Holly Golightly    Dorothy Gale    Jo March    Cosette
Jane Eyre Juliet Capulet    Nora Charles     Charlotte
Blanche Dubois     Pecola      Alice      Daisy Miller    Lily Bart
Becky Sharp    Mary Lennox Emma Woodhouse

We’ve had tea and coffee with these women.

Ate ice cream and chocolate with these women.

Even taken baths with these women.

Stretched out under a tree with these women.

Flew with these women.

Drank with these women.

Dreamed of being these women.

Tried to make sure not to be some of these women.

Loved them. Hated them. Pitied them.

We’ve cried with them, laughed with them.

Shouted yahoo! for these women.

Watched them live, love, sometimes die.

Felt their sorrow.

Rejoiced in their triumphs.

We’ve learned from their failures, cheered them on.

They’ve seen us at our best and our worst.

They’ve met our loved ones, including cats and dogs.

They live in our homes.

Fiction’s loved and hated heroines hold a place in our hearts and remind us of who we were, who we are and who we want to be.

Take a few minutes to relax and remind yourself of the joys of a good read with this delectably illustrated book, Well-Read Women: Portraits of Fiction’s Most Beloved Heroines by Samantha Hahn (Chronicle Books).

Contains smile-inducing illustrations of fictional heroines (although I would have liked Bridget Jones included, but maybe in the next book) by the talented Samantha Hahn, accompanied by some of your favourite quotes from these ladies and their authors.

“It struck me as pretty ridiculous to be called Mr. Darcy and to stand on your own looking snooty at a party. It’s like being called Heathcliff and insisting on spending the entire evening in the garden, shouting “Cathy” and banging your head against a tree.” ~Bridget Jones
Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding