Whenever I get sick enough to stay in bed, I think, "The silver lining to all this is that I will have more time to read and write!" Then whatever germs have invaded my body laugh maniacally and render my brain about as useful as a mealy apple. The problem here, apparently, is that my psyche suppresses all memories of previous illness, so I forget how physical ailment - particularly anything that results in sinus congestion - depletes my cognitive energy. Then I not only spend a few days in bed feeling sick, I spend them feeling sick and disappointed.
The only exertion on the part of my imagination at such times is usually limited to spontaneous bursts of sickness-themed parodies of Broadway musical tunes, such as "Hello Mucus" (a variation of "Hello Dolly"), or "Do You Hear the People Sneeze?"
This illness is why, after I was on such a roll, I utterly failed at making any progress in my final story editing OR my agent queries in the last week. I wish my explanation was that I was doing awesome things in Seattle, but the truth is that I was spending an inordinate amount of time on a couch, working my way through two boxes of "Puffs Plus," and watching old episodes of "True Blood" and "My Cat From Hell" (I <3 you Jackson Galaxy)! Which isn't to say my trip was devoid of joy; I got to see lots of friends and do wonderful things with family before the invading microorganisms kicked my ass. But then my nose got so stuffy I couldn't taste my food (one of the saddest effects of a passing cold), and my lethargy rendered writing impossible.
So now I'm back in Ohio, and my illness if 95% gone. It's tempting to feel gloomy at the irony of it all, but fortunately I have an excellent deterrent to such self-pity indulgences: a four-legged, medium-furred, green-eyed beauty who has the subtleties of body language down to a fine art. She knows how to get me out of bed when I want to wallow in stormy thoughts, and she knows how to energize me when I want to collapse in an end-of-day exaggeration of exhaustion. And, as you can clearly see, she also knows how to remind me that I have a laptop patiently awaiting my creative ministrations.
Thank heaven for cats.