Brian Wightman talks the art of punctuation

There is little time to relax. Relaxing can even be viewed as selfish or wasting time. Relaxing has the power to make you feel guilty about the things you should be doing.

Last Tuesday was National Punctation Day. A day established to promote the correct use of English language in writing.

The comma is my favourite punctuation. A comma indicates a pause when writing. It can separate clauses or help you make lists. A comma gives you space to think and find meaning and gain understanding.

The late Ernest Hemingway is one of my literary idols. He employed commas to slow the reader down. At other times commas are not seen in his writing for paragraphs.

Hemingway used 'and' and then 'and' again without a comma when he wanted the story to gain pace and increase in excitement and intensity.

The American literary giant's writing is rhythmical and difficult to define and utterly addictive. You run with his words and then you walk. His life's work was a pursuit of "one true sentence".

Trusted colleagues often provide feedback on my writing. They tell me to layoff the commas because it interrupts their flow when reading. I take note of comments and heed advice. Any writing that stirs emotion is worthy of conversation.

So why is it easy to pause when writing but not during our daily grind?

Part of the reason is our inability to switch off. iDevices and tablets and laptops make our work and social lives blur. We find ourselves interacting with family and friends while working and working when trying to interact.

We create rules to hit pause and find space. No technology in the bedroom. No technology at the dinner table nor the restaurant. Charge your iPhone in another room. Don't check your social media when first you wake. No laptops on the couch when chilling-out watching Netflix ... I am not checking Facebook for at least three hours we defiantly instruct ourselves.

The rules rarely work no matter how true their intention. A sneaky look at your feed can be easily covered by checking the children are asleep or when brewing the fourth cup of tea for the evening.

Insignificant yet instant gratification and grave concern of FOMO (fear of missing out) can be experienced and calmed through access to social media. Perhaps it even overcomes boredom endured during the completion of mundane tasks once considered routine. Maybe checking your phone is the new smoking. Heaven forbid glancing at your device may even be comforting.

But we do need to find a comma in our daily lives.

It takes me two days to calm down and find balance when holidaying. Letting go of budget targets and leadership issues and task lists is challenging. Modern communication makes it even more difficult.

Once detox has occurred the ability to relax and be present improves each day.

Sitting at a simple outdoor setting on a raised deck with porthole views to the beach and ocean I imagined writing The Old Man and the Sea or the Parisian memoir A Moveable Feast like Hemingway did in Cuba.

Then reality struck and so did the fact that daydreaming on a sun-drenched tropical island each week is a pleasant romantic notion but far from likely.

My family holiday reminded me that I can't concentrate on anything else when writing. Others find peace in cooking or golf or knitting or meditation or music or painting or reading or running or Yoga. Writing is my comma. Writing is my pause. Writing is my holiday.

How do you find your comma or your pause or your holiday each week? If it is proving difficult to answer this simple question you should dedicate time to finding a pursuit that allows you to forget about the stresses of life. Just for moment relax. Just for a few minutes take stock.

I had better go to sleep because it is beyond midnight and I'm still typing ... Heed my advice don't follow my example ...