We need total concentration
Like many of the thoughts and ideas that float through my head these days, this isn't original, but people say it a lot because it's true: after a long day of work and running errands, it's really hard to sit down and write.
I have a new insight into why this might be the case though. You see, my job actually involves hearing lots of dramatic stories (excuses) for poor grades, altercations with professors, or just screwing up in general. Relatives so far removed you would need a telescope and a clear day in the Rockies to see them have expired from diseases Dr. House could never hope to cure. In my world, pet cats really do have nine lives; a student talks to nine different counselors and the poor cat dies every time. I know this makes me sound like an insensitive hard ass, but I'm not.
I just have a low tolerance for bullshit, and I know teenagers do too. So why do I hear so much of it?
So you fail a class? Big deal. Retake the class and pass it. So you called your teacher an asshat in the middle of the lecture. Hey, at least he didn't press assault charges. See? The truth is always better.
Trying to see through all the fiction that comes with my job makes it seem like I'm contributing to this epidemic of prevarication spreading through the population like toilet water through a dorm bathroom. Reality feels so refreshing. Then, I miss writing, but when I sit down to actually write something, I think, "Ugh, I'm so tired. I could go to sleep. I could do my nails. I could read that book. . . hmm. What's on Weather Underground right now? Oh, rain again. That's nice. What does the 15 minute view look like? Ooh! Fascinating!" See the problem? No focus. No Zen. Still, it's a process, right?