Like most people I had plenty of family nicknames when I was young, some derived from me trying to say my own name, some which arrived from nowhere, some which others called me, and then some which were connected to aspects of me. An example of this is Dilly-Dream, because I was often in a ‘world of my own’, day-dreaming about stories in the books I’d read or heard on the radio, or stories I was imagining – before I would ever write them down. I’d be doing something and my mind would wander away to something else, and I’d become sidetracked and not finish whatever it was.
This persisted into my teenage years – whenever we went anywhere my sister would be in charge of the money, or tickets, or passports, because I’d forget or misplace or lose them or leave them behind somewhere. However as I got older, I did make a real effort to be where I was supposed to be at the right time, with the right things – whether it was doing my homework or remembering to pack everything I needed when going on a swimming competition or match. When I moved away from home I continued to try really hard to finish assignments on time – living with other people who were doing the same tasks kept me mostly on track. Mostly on track – except I would be writing a history essay, for example, and become deviated by an irrelevant detail and write pages and pages on people and events which had little to do with the question I was supposed to be answering or the commentary I was supposed to be making.
When I started work, the first job was a ghastly civil service position in a small office with only two other people, and we actually had nothing to do. So, I confess, I spent my time writing stories – I would be hammering away at the typewriter, occasionally answering the phone, so all was fairly well. I left the civil service and worked at Manchester Airport on the enquiry desk, and making flight announcements. I loved being there, and because it was really busy, but with specific tasks, I didn’t have the time for my mind to wander and I was side by side with colleagues which sharpened my focus. Night shifts were very quiet of course, literally nothing happened except if a delayed flight came in, so again, that quiet time was spent writing, and from that I produced some short stories which were published in a national magazine.
I changed my life again and became a teacher. It wasn’t just the kids who forgot their homework, I can tell you! Luckily I always worked really hard, and loved the kids I worked with and really did the best I could for them. Now I could use the stories I wrote, and would write stories and worksheets for them. Homework might not be set because I forgot, or might be marked late, because I forgot, I might end up in the wrong classroom, or forget to plan a lesson. However, I always worked hard, I was always there, I did the best I possibly could, and I was very, very lucky that I was teaching at a time without the rigid and constricted timetables etc. teachers have to follow now.
Of course, life isn’t just work,and I’ve had plenty of adventures, doing family things, travelling, socialising, pubbing, finding the perfect partner and having my own family. As with work there’s been the forgetting things, wrong places, wrong times, wrong events, but fortunately I’ve muddled through. Thankfully nothing too disastrous has occurred by being elsewhere rather than somewhere, on a different day, week, month, and fortunately friends and family are very kind and forgiving . I carry my phone everywhere and am manic about knowing where it is because it contains THE CALENDAR and THE DIARY , and it has helped. To be honest, these muddles are actually quite minor – and probably annoy me more than anyone else, but they do annoy me. Why am I like this?Why am I such an idiot? I complain. Dilly-Dream, yes, I guess I am.
In the newspaper today was an article which interested me greatly; it was about time-blindness which I had never heard of before.
I know a lot of people wonder whether they have undiagnosed ADHD or ADD, and I must admit, I do sometimes wonder about myself in a loose and not very serious way. Reading this article was quite startling because the way it describes time-blindness seemed to almost perfectly describe the Dilly-Dream aspect of myself. However, I don’t suppose there’s anything much I can do about it, except to be more aware, to not lose my phone, to look at the wall calendar everyday, and probably just accept that being absent minded, in a world of my own and in a bit of a dream, is also part of being a writer!
Here is a link to books I’ve published, the worlds I’ve been in when maybe I should have been doing something else, being somewhere else, and keeping track of my possessions!
Lois Elsden 
Ah yes, I was called Dilly Daydream too 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Snap!! We were too busy being imaginative and creative!!
LikeLike