I've just done me writefantastic blog du jour. Which was about giving up smoking. We have just managed a complete week with no ciggies.

I have to say, it has been pretty dire. LOL I don't want to moan on about it, as we have had nicotine replacement therapy and lots of support from all kinds of people. It's really that all the stuff that was bugging you already pops up again and hits you smartly on the nose, like a rake in the grass.

Feeling insecure about your writing career? BAM!

Anxious about your friendships and professional relationships? SPLAT!

What you realise is that the ciggies didn't make you feel any better. But they were a kind of crutch that helped see you through the difficult bits.

So yes, you do feel better in many ways, but life can still be sodden awful and difficult to deal with.

Ok, you knew that.

I always forget this and think that people are disapproving of ME and preoccupied with ME when in fact everyone has to deal with their own shit (in the broadest sense). So what I say and do probably impinges to an infinitesimal degree and may cause no more than a brief irritation (damn, it's that pesky Jessica again). Like, quite a lot of people seem to be ill right now?

(wanders off vaguely...)