Out Damned Spot!

During a heatwave earlier this month, my husband suddenly came down with a nasty cold, so he spent a couple of days in bed recovering. He likes to solve puzzles with a notebook and rollerball pen, and unfortunately at some point a black ink spot about the size of an old halfpenny piece appeared on our pristine duvet cover. 

 

Always up for a laundry challenge, I googled how to remove it and was delighted that the first solution I found involved the use of ‘rubbing alcohol’, otherwise known as ‘Isopropyl Alcohol’. I happened to have some in the cupboard (why, you might ask? Because it has a multitude of uses!), so I set about following the instructions, first dabbing the stain with a cloth soaked in the stuff. That didn’t appear to have any effect at all. I felt like Lady Macbeth, unable to expunge the stain. 

 

So, I spot-soaked the stain in a bowl, along with another smaller spot on a sheet, and left it for a while. When I came back, the stain had spread not only around the duvet cover but onto the sheet. I felt like ‘The Cat in The Hat Comes Back’ (see how I’m getting the cultured literary references in here?). After rinsing both items and rubbing them with some laundry soap, I shoved them in the washing machine and hoped for the best. 

Much to my astonishment, the ink stains completely disappeared in the machine, just like magic! I was priding myself on my cleverness as I hung the laundry out on the washing line. Then I saw some new ink spots I hadn’t noticed earlier (cue ‘Psycho’ shower scene music) …

 

But isn’t this just like life and writing? We encounter an obstacle, we overcome it, and suddenly another one pops up in its place. 

 

I’m writing a novel based on the true story of my ancestor. As I’m not an historian, I’ve had to do a lot of research into the 1830s to get the details right. For example, how did my great-great-grandmother travel from her birthplace in the country to Shoreditch, where she had a job as a maidservant? I’ve had to become a semi-expert in stagecoach routes. Once I figure one thing out, another conundrum presents itself… I sit there thinking, ‘Ah, but if that happened, then what about this?’ And so, it goes on.

 

Going back to this amazing stuff called Isopropyl alcohol, it was first synthesised by a chemist called Alexander William Williamson in 1853, so I have him to thank for my clean bedding more than a century and a half later. My great-grandmother would not have been so lucky if she’d had the same problem! That’s another thing I’ve been pondering – how on earth did they get their laundry clean in 1830? Another rabbit hole to explore. 

 

But of course, God is the ultimate inventor and inspiration behind everything good and clever in this world. If we ask (and often, if we don’t!), He will help us with our obstacles. We can be spiritually washed completely clean of our sins if we repent, which is as simple as saying sorry and asking Him for forgiveness. No chemicals involved. We might still have faults, but by His grace we can overcome them, again and again. 

 

God also gifted us with our imaginations. If we use them as God intended, who knows what fantastical plots and solutions for our stories we might be capable of inventing? I’m regularly astonished at the flights of fancy I can indulge in as I craft my story. At such times, I feel truly inspired. I need to remember that the source of all creativity is God, our Creator. Be encouraged to indulge your imagination (just maybe not while sitting in bed with an ink pen!)