Extra Mustard: My favorite time of year

Plus: The benefits of creativity to stress

With all due respect to Perry Cuomo, for a sports fan we are in the midst of The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

It's the most wonderful time of the year

With fight songs they're singing

At tailgates they're drinking

While Corso puts on headgear...

It’s the most wonderful time of the year

It's the season for all kinds of football

With Raiders and Cardinals, and Chelsea, Newcastle

Sit down and do nothing at all

It's the hap-happiest season of all

There'll be pennants for hoisting

As the Dodgers are boasting

Another NL West winning year

But will they have enough pitching

Will their swings be hitching

And end the postseason with tears?

It's the most wonderful time of the year

We'll start at 5 o'clock

With Premiere League on peacock

And talk with British accents

Then move to Big Ten, watch Michigan win

And root for Utah's achievements

It's the most wonderful time of the year

And while NFL's not my fave

I'll still talk Raiders with Dave

Until the NBA and the Kings begin play

Then we'll watch Sacramento

Take on Toronto

And talk every sport the rest of the day

It's the most wonderful time of the year

There'll be much to be cheering

And yes we'll be jeering

So bring on the beer,

It's the most wonderful time

It's the most wonderful time

It's the most wonderful time

It's the most wonderful time of the year

Please NOTE: This is my parody, so my teams are included. Please feel free to enter your teams when you sing it around the kitchen and annoy your spouse.

Side of Mustard…

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

The past few weeks have been tough in the regular job, taking up much of my critical-thinking capacity. As a result, it’s been a chore to sit down and be creative and work on the next project (Landslide: The Fictional Memoir of Alex Shelby, a cranky columnist who finds redemption in gratitude).

A few days ago, I was in six hours of virtual meetings while also writing and reviewing documents all day. At the end of the day. I was mentally gassed. I left the home office and I had several options - the most attractive being turning on the TV and streaming the Office.

But… I looked at my writing tablet and convinced myself to work on a future short story for this newsletter. In 90 minutes, I produced a 2000-word story about a man who is hungover on the morning of his 21st birthday. As my fingers flowed over the keyboard, the stress and anxiety melted away as I considered my character wondering who is in his bed and how she got there? I smiled as I understood he had to be at work in a half hour. When I finished the first draft, I closed the tablet and jumped up from the couch with a new energy. I was smiling. I was ready to have a better interaction with my spouse.

There is real benefit to a creative endeavor. It frees the mind and shifts the focus to something entirely different. For me, it opens another part of the brain and brings joy, energy, and a new world in which to play. I can look into my imagination and see characters’ problems and find ways to either put them in more peril or resolve their issues. Nothing like acting like an omnipresent being in a world of my imagination to help pull the stress out of the things I can’t control in the real world.

What does this say about the creative process? Starting the process is always tough. But the effort is worth it, and the benefit is the process itself. Just the act of creating is worthwhile. Just do it.