Its Wednesday and the chicken egg in my gut is sore and painful so I get up latish, about 9am and get myself coffee and muesli. It is a sluggish start to my day and when this happens, I usually retreat to the Shed and today is no different.

Once in the Shed I go through my routine, light the candles, put the heater on for a blast and fill the ink well. I spread my writing pad out in front of me and then stare at it. No one comes to mind to write to in this moment. This does not usually happen, so I just stare at the blank page with my address at the top right-hand corner. I’ve had trouble recently externalising what’s going on inside but there is no forcing it. So I sit with it and see if anything comes up. Eventually I go back to an old habit of drawing my life. For years I’ve occasionally drawn out a sort of life map, with places, people, activities and things. Each one is different depending on what is going on. Over the recent years when I was working there were multiple places but now only one, home and the Shed. I start the process doodling with brush and ink and just let the picture develop. I try to let it just happen and only think about it afterwards, it’s the doodling that’s more important. I just let it create itself and see where it ends up. With my restricted life at the moment I was not expecting much and admit I started out more in hope than anything else. What I ended up with was a bit of a surprise.

I’m not going to explain it as it seems fairly obvious that there are some tangible bits that are easy to recognise but the rest is a bit of a mystery. I’ve no idea what was going on, which just reinforces my belief that my unconscious has more to do with my life than I either realise or understand. I’m just glad I have one as I have a sense that it deals with the things I do not understand or cannot or face in reality. What I do know within myself it is that it will not harm me, it’s part of me and has my best interests at its heart, it is after all part of me. I don’t believe the unconscious gets “ill”, it’s not that sort of process. My partner makes me lunch and I discover that I have post that includes a lovely and thought-provoking letter from a friend who also includes a post card, which makes me smile, so I share it here.

My partner goes to see her mother with her brother just as Amazon man delivers the picture frame I ordered for the picture my friend has sent me. So, I returned to the Shed and framed the picture and hung it above my writing table. I redistributed other odds and ends to make a suitable space and then sat and looked at it. I really like it and share it below. I apologise to the artist if making the work public is tricky but I think it deserves to be seen, it is so evocative.

I tidy the Shed and then drive to the garage to top up my tank and tyres. It’s good to get out and I decide to go to the gym, not for exercise but for a large hot chocolate and to start to draft the blog. Soon time to return home to start the evening, food then football. I bought a book with me but it remains unopened perhaps I will get to take it to bed tonight. The actual outcome was watching Liverpool stick 7 past Rangers, a dismal news bulletin and then bed.