by Brianna Richards

Created on: July 25, 2008

Late at night, squished to the edge of a queen size bed, (how can one man take up so much room?) listening to my husband's soft snoring and ready to leap to the crib at the first sounds of my 2 month-old son waking, my creativity is unleashed. Maybe it is the only time for me that is truly quiet, or maybe God just decided he likes me better tired, but the never-ending flow of thoughts through my head keeps me from sleep. Unfortunately, I need sleep very much lately, and I am finding that all my ideas are forgotten by the time morning comes (along with a new jumble of worries and mental to-do lists). Perhaps I should sneak a notebook into bed with me from now on

Writing for me has always been my clearest form of communication. Lately, however, I am finding that in travelling from my brain to my pen, most of my thoughts are lost in translation. What sounded so eloquent repeated in the back of my head now sounds choppy, muddled, and, quite frankly, foolish. What would my English teacher have to say? It has only been a year since I have been out of school, and already it feels as if my brain is slowly shutting down (does permanent writer's block sound fitting?). Stimulation is at a minimum, my focus having been redirected to feedings, diaper changes, and aisle 2 clean-ups (as well as every other responsibility awarded to a wife and mother). After discovering Helium, I am learning to rekindle my passion for writing, and re-establish myself as a "creative" person.

It's interesting that I would find something so worthwhile in a form so unexpected. I just moved to Canada from the USA a little over four years ago, and I am still waiting for my permanent residency to be approved. The rest of my family has already received it but because I got married in the middle of the process, my original application was denied (I even married a Canadian for goodness sake!). Because of this, I had been searching for online "jobs" with which I could supplement my husband's income (then my boyfriend only). One of the sites I came across (after over a year of searching and running into countless scams - getting nowhere of course) mentioned Helium and the possibility of making a profit on freelance writing. After looking the site over, I decided it might be worth a try and signed up.

And then life happened.

My boyfriend and I found out we were expecting (a complete shock to us, and - needless to say - our parents) and our future plans suddenly became NOW plans. I forgot about Helium for a

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