...magpie syndrome

"I do have a habit of chattering on so. Why if I could liken myself to a bird, a magpie would probably be the closest thing I could resemble." ~ Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery

For as long as I can remember, my sister has accused me of having, what she calls, "Magpie Syndrome".

Not only do I 'chatter' persistently and breathlessly, but I have that famous magpie quality of being attracted to, and distracted by "shiny things", both literal and figurative!

For now, life is one big shiny magpie worthy distraction.
I'm working less consistently owing to the pandemic - the downside being less financial stability, the upside being more allotted time to write, right?
Wrong!
Everyday I wake up, fluff my feathers and tell myself that today is the day I'm going to sit down at my desk to write. After coffee...because the chance of me stringing together a coherent sentence without a caffeinated beverage is not good.
Whilst drinking my coffee, I find myself looking around the house with beady eyes, finding things out of place, but more likely, finding some task that distracts me and pulls writing from the top of my priority list for the day.
Vacuuming, laundry, tax returns, paperwork, delivery men, work calls. The list is endless and shines with tinkly magpie distraction.

Social media is a huge culprit. I've never spent so much time online in my life, having little or no excuse not to keep my socials updated when presented with such an abundance of time. When I'm not online, I'm taking pictures to post online, or searching Pinterest for bookish inspiration to create posts to publish online.

Books are the shiniest of shiny objects. My magpie senses tingle! I photograph books. I review books. I read books. I fawn over books. I leer over the beautiful covers of recent publications that hypnotise me into dropping them into virtual shopping baskets and inevitably collecting more books.

The result is a nest woven from words, that makes my feathers fluff with the pride of a peacock. We find our happiness's where we can at the moment. In my case it's in a small scale book-shopping addiction.
Do they let magpies go to Shopaholics anonymous?
Probably not.

I can't wait for the world to return to normal and to re-establish some sort of balance to settle my feather-brained mind. My magpie syndrome has peaked, and the distractions around my house are shiny and plentiful. I need a clear space and clear mind to be able to write and submerge myself into my fictional world, and that's not happening with nearly enough frequency for my liking.

I'm going to close this blog now, knowing that I've got a whole TO-DO list of magpie distractions to get through today.

I'm thinking my situation must be a relatable one for a lot of people at the moment, so please show me some solidarity in the comments. Birds of a feather flock together! And let me know if there are any blog topics you're interested in reading about at the moment if you're still home and looking for something to take your mind off the world's madness.

I'll be back with another blog next Monday, but you can find me in the meantime @zuzuspages on Instagram Facebook Twitter and now Pinterest !

Zuzu 🖋