...writing actually makes me feel better. I love the way author Lori Pickert describes this sentiment in one of her blog posts: "Writing makes me feel happier and less likely to stab someone with a fork, so I'm going to try to do it a little more often."
Lots of ideas have been percolating in my mind, but I haven't put pen to paper, The longer I haven't written, the harder it has become to start again. This is not news to me. I know this. But still I make the same mistake. Why? Fear, procrastination, perfectionism, time-wasting, busy-ness, etc.
Regardless, I need to plunge back in. I had a "breakthrough" at yoga this morning. Just start making lists. So I started composing a few of them right there in my head during savasana. And I jotted down some ideas when I got home. And today's list is:
Ten writing-related goals for May:
1. Write everyday, starting today. Even if just for ten minutes.
2. Blog once a week.
3. Work on drafts for two essay ideas I have from our recent trip to Poland.
4. Complete and post my first vlog (video log). This is something I've already started working on.
5. Revise any one of the various pieces written in my online writing classes and submit it.
6. Read Crash Course: Essays from Where Writing and Life Collide by Robin Black
7. Read more books and less "articles" that appear in Facebook. Yep, I'm looking at you "Top 10 Celebrity Plastic Surgery Botches."
8. Color, collage, draw with chalk on the sidewalk, etc. - do some "art" once a week.
9. Go on a solitary walk or hike once a week.
10. Continue going to yoga on Monday mornings.
Only half of the goals involve writing. But even the goals that are not actual writing are very much writing-related.
Stay tuned for more lists!
I find my self-imposed goal of posting every Monday very motivational. That being said, setting a deadline is always going to add stress to your life. Good luck Mary!
ReplyDeleteI agree, Carl. I am definitely motivated by deadlines! A self-imposed goal of posting a certain day each week is a good way to set a deadline and probably the best way to keep on track.
DeleteHey! I was going to ask you about your mom's "coloring." I have been doing a bit of that this summer. It is enjoyable and relaxing for me. I wish I was quifty enough to take a picture and show you how much and what I've been coloring. :-)
ReplyDeleteOn another note, Kacie and I were just talking (and then I was also sharing that conversation with another mom) about how some lessons, some thing we KNOW, need to be learned again and maybe again and maybe many times. This is true for, I believe, everyone I know. And in yoga my teacher says that is what life is - a journey of remembering and forgetting and remembering that you forgot and forgetting again and remembering again and on and on and on. And since that IS life's journey there is no need to struggle against it. Embrace it. And keep going strong!