10 Things You Wish You Knew About Me

My circadian rhythm is not cooperating with Daylight Saving Time. This morning, as soon as my eyes flew wide open, I knew the world had been turned upside down. I glanced around my bedroom: my desk overflew with books, a shelf stared back at me, and my cat snored peacefully. Nothing seemed amiss--at least nothing of importance. I began to feel an edginess instead of the soporific calm the early morning hours seem to induce. Then it finally slapped me: I knew what was missing. It was an artifact as ancient as the universe itself, but far more precious--my jar of creativity. What I believe happened is that, before I was fully awake, during REM sleep, my right brain surrendered power to the abominable writer's block. My "active mind/relaxed body" afterglow refused to linger on. My head felt as if it was full of cotton, wrapped in gauze and under the mind control of Hypnos--if that's even possible!  

However, after an extensive period of meditation, I knew just how to remedy my "writing ills". You may be surprised, but Googling writing prompts in an effort to combat writer's block is the most time-honored panacea of all. That is until you run into another obstacle....

Selecting a writing prompt is the easy part, the hard part is yet to come. Whilst I know the gist of what I want to say, the word will not pour out. I feel as if I'm in a dark cave groping for the light switch, finding it, and feeling it disappear as soon as it makes contact with my fingers. How easy a writer's life would be if only we could pour words into a bottle, dip a brush in, and paint our innermost thoughts onto a canvas. At least then I wouldn't be struggling to form in my mind the sentences I want to write, search for the right adjectives, or finish half-formed thoughts. But I suppose a writer's tools are limited to pen and paper--or in this case monitor and keyboard.

Enough mindless chatting. Today's writing prompt is 10 things I wish people knew about me. 

Seems easy enough, right? Or maybe this is one writing assignment for which I'm particularly unqualified. 

O.K., I suppose I shall do my best. Here are 10 things you wish you knew about me but don't:

1. I'm obsessed with Greek mythology--or mythology of any kind, really. If we are not alone in the universe, then forces as powerful as God (with a capital G) must surely coexist in it. The beauty of believing is that science and magic work in tandem. Science arose from mankind's faith in magic; our curiosity to explain natural phenomena led us to create a field of knowledge far more credible than the mythical forces governing the universe. At least that's how I've come to see it.

2. Seltzer is my favorite drink. There is something about the acidic fizzle of this effervescent drink that entraps me in a cloud of euphoria.

3. I'm afraid of the dark. This is not an uncommon phobia. Mankind fears that which he cannot see. And, in the dark, nightmares come to light. Pun intended.

4. I accumulate books. I keep books I love and books I find uninteresting. If I had to estimate, I'd say I only get through one-third of a book before ransacking the bookstore for another one. 

5. I love ripped jeans. I don't like to show skin, but I do take delight in making a fashion statement. Sometimes I like to go the extra mile and cut holes in my jeans. My mother, upon seeing my newly ruined pants, simply knits her brows and sighs. Deep down, she wishes she were wearing them.

6. I have Greek ancestry. I wouldn't be surprised if I'm descended from Theseus, or Perseus, or maybe even Jason. Probably not Hercules. He did, after all, murder his wife and children.

7. I hate writing. I love having written. Writing is gruesomely difficult. It consumes who you are and what you do. And even then, I can't see myself not writing--it simply defines me. I shall let you in on a little secret: writing never ends. Whilst we live in world of words, success doesn't come overnight. One must work hard for it. Writers don't enjoy the satisfaction of retirement, because writing doesn't stop. It resembles a Ferris wheel; it spins round and round. Never stopping; always going. As Hemingway famously put it, "There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." 

8. My middle name is Maria. It's such a joy to be named after the Virgin Mary, despite my paucity of faith and unwillingness to attend Sunday Mass.

9. My dad wanted me to be called Lillian, in honor of my late grandmother. But, before any plans were set in motion, my mother decided she was going to name her last kid Gemma, after the eponymous Italian saint and Dante Alighieri's wife, Gemma. However, she added her own personal touch: my name was to be spelled with one m. I suppose she didn't imagine most people would have trouble pronouncing it.

10. I'm secretly a demigod. This isn't completely factual, but it should be. Having a powerful Olympian parent comes with a big price tag. It would make me a very high-profile target, monsters would help me along to my doom, and I would cower in fear. I must confess that, after having a steaming mug of coffee, my imagination runs wild. Let it be.

11. I know I said ten facts about me, but I'm a spirit of contradiction. It's in my nature. Also, I find candy revolting.