Spending hours writing shouldn't mean losing sleep.
Last night, I was feeling a little under the weather. I had trouble sleeping and just generally feeling unhealthy all around. I thought I might be getting sick, but luckily it was just temporary. I'm feeling back to 100% this morning, but tired from the lack of shut-eye.
My first inclination last night was to fix myself some tea. I just bought this ginger turmeric tea and this was my second time having it. It was better tasting than I'd expected and the black pepper gave it that something extra that made it stand out from other teas. As I was preparing it, I realized we all have different habits for helping ourselves when we're not feeling well.
I write a fictional series with a protagonist who owns an apothecary shop. I am not a medical professional and I don't have any qualifications when it comes to curatives, so you might wonder why I would choose that profession to write about. Partly, it was just because it suited the character for her role in the town and for her to be able to solve crimes like poisoning, etc. I think I was also comfortable with the topic because my main character provides *magical* cures to her faerie and human community so we shouldn't take any of her advice on medicine too seriously in our world. I did grow up with a lot of good old fashioned remedies, so I do think that sometimes natural remedies are valuable, too.
Having parents who reach for herbal solutions before medical ones means I naturally picked up some of their habits. If I have a toothache I reach for a clove and even my mouthwash is clove and cinnamon based rather than a bunch of ingredients I can't pronounce. If I have a stomach ache I crush a little ajowan caraway and take spoonful with some water. If I'm feeling achy or down I have turmeric tea. If I feel I'm coming down with a cold its echinacea. There are many natural ways to keep up our health and I like to think I'm open to trying new ones.
Having said that, I still reach for medicine when I have a migraine. I get less of them when I'm being careful about my diet, but when I do have them, nothing seems to help. Fortunately, it wasn't a migraine last night. It was probably just overuse of the computer. I should go back to writing on paper sometimes, but I find it easier to type. Unfortunately, that means I spend hours staring at a screen.
I've got a lot of projects I'm working on right now, so I'll take more time away from the computer screen once those are done. In the meantime, I'll probably be consuming plenty of coffee and teas to keep myself going. I am determined not to fall into the usual trap of eating junk food during long stretches of writing/editing. As I write this, it's nearing 8am in the morning and my brain is still waking up. Time for a little coffee, or maybe an apple since they are also supposed to give energy. Or forget it, I might just have some pancakes. Just because I know what's healthy, doesn't always mean I follow my own advice.