The Bends

They all warned me, but I didn't believe it.

I had attended similar events back when it was the Stonecoast Writers Conference in the '90s. I remembered how cool it was, the sense of community, and then the goodbyes when it was over. Sure, it was fun and all, and definitely worth attending again, but there was no way I felt unprepared for this residency (now that it was an MFA program). In fact, I was prepared to be anxious to leave and get back to my real life where I have a fabulous kid and a fabulous job and fabulous friends. Why on earth would I have difficulty leaving frozen Maine in January?

Was I ever wrong.

The truth was that today, four days after I came home, I feel so disoriented, so removed from my life, that I am literally counting the days until July 9 when I can return. I want to hang out with writers, published and those who will be soon. I want to talk about art and literature and smile all the time. I want to eat organic food from O'Naturals and end every other conversation with, "so say we all."

I wish someone hadn't only warned me, but had prepared me, about the difficulty of returning to my "real" life, my non-SC life. I wish someone would teach me how to adjust as painlessly as possible back into my real life...