I'm on the last leg of the course, with the last or penultimate (?) assignments to do and another 24-hour deadline. Is it burn-out or is it procrastination - - or fear? - that is causing my stomach ache?

Such a simple, apparently simple, assignment, to do with marketing and pitching one's work and I am procrastinating, or am I paralyzed? I'm sure when I complete my task my stomach will stop aching.

I read and saved an article in the NYT the other day that cited various causes of stomach upset. Of course, it emphasized the importance of cleanliness and hygiene, one's own as well as others'. I read that Donald Trump refused to eat dinner at an event after he had shaken hands with a man who had just come out of the men's room with wet hands. I bought and drank bottled water when I lived up north on a clean Canadian lake because I never knew when a passing loon might decide to pee into my water intake line.

Bit the article ended with an acknowledgment of what your nerves can do to your bowels. Remember exams? Maybe you weren't the kind to get excited about them, but if you were, then you know how apprehension can affect your innards. Check the first meaning of the word: apprehension, noun, anxiety or fear that something bad or unpleasant will happen. "He felt sick with apprehension"; "She had some apprehensions about the filming". Like that. It's not that something bad is going to happen; it's just that you're afraid it might happen. (And then you've let all that adrenalin go to waste.)

With this very blog I am honing my skill of procrastination. No prizes.