Doing… and more doing

So… not only is his post for the ROW80 challenge long due, but it’s totally not the kind of said post I intended to make when I started this round. I had this great vision of a regular table of what goals I reached that I could just click off, updating a single post throughout the round. It was going to be great; the first step in streamlining these blogs and making them into something closer to my original purpose: a place to showcase and share my inspirations and creative work.

The best laid plans….

Some of this failure comes out of dealing badly with emotional stress. A lot comes from a realization that I don’t “do” streamlined well (though I am working on that regularly). Some also comes from what I’ve come to realize is a bit of a (possibly hereditary) compulsion to help others … a compulsion to say “Yes, I can do some of that!” whenever I get involved with a group, attend a function… visit a friend (ask anyone who knows me, I have a fondness for hot soapy water and a dish sponge).

Cheese!
Ready to be squeezed

June might be a very interesting week for me. Not only will there be the annual JuNoWriMo sprints to host, my present management of the ROW80 website, but… I decided I would raise my hand at the meeting the South Jersey Writers last Thursday when a call went out for some new board members. 😅

So, this post, while being a ROW80 check-in, really isn’t much about the goals I set at the beginning of this Rounds of Words; it’s more of how I am going to be challenging (and have recently challenged) myself as a ROWer

I won’t change my plans for June and beyond. I love my writing groups. But I took steps to not sign up for more sprints than I could. I’m setting limits on the things I feel I am capable of taking on for the SJWriters, and I won’t be signing up for a lot of extra activities in June itself (except for possibly helping host a table at the Burlington County Fook Festival on the 4th). I will even be making my (recently more frequent) trips to Upstate NY to be with family); this past winter was one of too many reminders that those connections, even at their most solid, are prone to being severed by chance and bad luck.

Not being prepared, whether making a recipe, or going into a challenge, can be messy

Mostly I’m slowing down, despite my obsessive volunteerism (which, IS a family thing… as my father’s obit shows, and like him, my mom, my uncles and aunts, my grandparents…), giving what I can. My goals from the beginning of the Round? Now over halfway through Round 2, I’ve forgotten what they were. Moreover, I care not to look. I know I have been accomplishing things:

• Beta read two novels and sent back observations and notes to the authors
• have written (not a lot, but a few thousand words of new story for Courting, as well as many notes and plans for future scenes
• I’ve maintained the ROW80 blog
• I’ve helped Mom declutter, as well as begun a bit of a decluttering process for my own home
• I’ve developed something of a “green thumb” (pictures will be posted as part of my First Friday Photo June 3rd)
• I’ve been also making a point to be involved in more in-person interactions; I’m finding (despite my need to back away often and just watch from the sidelines) that just being around creative and energized people returned creativity and energy back to me twofold
• And… I even made cheese (though it didn’t quite come out as well as my first attempt)

So, no, not too worried about what those goals were. Note: I am not against goal setting; I just won’t punish myself for getting derailed or doing what I needed to get through the past 40 plus days. The ROW80 is the challenge that knows you have a life. after all

So, here’s a bit for the upcoming week:

• I’m gathering photos for the next First Friday Photo bloghop (feel free to join in); last month I was joined by two ISWG members who shared super-inspiring posts: Rebecca Douglass and Janet Alcorn)
• I’m preparing for the the next ISWG post on Wednesday the 7th (the monthly question is If you ever did stop writing, what would you replace it with?)
• Sunday I’m meeting with a fellow SJW board member for a cuppa and some brainstorming
• Tuesday will be my usual Philadelphia morning Shut Up & Write session at the Bourse Food Hall (this is usually where I get my ROW80 posts done)
• Thursday will be sprints for JuNoWriMo

Obviously this is just a bit of what will be happening. But it’s a good start, don’tcha think?

Trying to Reset

A day late again, but March….ing on.

I don’t remember a single March in the past 15 years that hasn’t been chaotic. This one is looking to be no exception. After all… November came in like a lion, but until Dad’s Celebration of Life service on Palm Sunday weekend, the lambs are too busy rollicking in my head to settle down and rest.

That isn’t to say I’m not finding moments to settle and rejuvenate. As I mentioned in my last post, I am learning to see my limits better. In fact, I made a MOO (Me Only Outing ) to Winterthur last Thursday for some reset time. It helped… it helped a lot.

Capturing Moments in the Café

Friday was probably the most productive day I’ve had in a long, long time. Several little things that had been waiting in the wings got done. (Though, Thursday evening I spaced and missed the monthly business and process meeting with the SJWA.)

Saturday was even good, and officially that had been a planned “date day” with the Leader of the Opposition Party (actually, he and I disagree very little, but the term always makes me grin to use it). We managed a bunch of errands and figured out plans for the back yard that have been languishing since we arrived here.

Sunday… not so good. I forgot to get a WeWriWa post up on my name blog, but I did get a few things done and checked out another group in the area (this one dedicated to traveling, since I’m such a … homebody).

I’ve been waking up a lot earlier lately, and I think this sleep reset is doing something with the way I am able to function as well. I used to be a night person, but now… 4:40am waking times seem to be my regular. No alarms, just the body says “Hey, brain time.”

Thing is, I’m not set up for that at the moment. I guess that needs to be the next step: a way to make those hours in the morning more useful. Though, I haven’t quite figured out what that is without compromising some of the things that make my journey on this blue-green ball of rock worth living for….

Someday.

For now, focus needs to be on just check off boxes on my todo list. And… editing. I’m with Alberta on this… March is, even if there is no website saying it anymore, NaNoEdMo. For me, that’s also a first run of tying in pages. Double damage.

Though, TBH, I’d really rather be back at The Grotto watching these beauties:

I like the trees reflecting over the water

Always Catching Up

And always getting further behind

This post is even late. Sorry, not sorry. I am starting to recognize that I can’t do All The Things no matter how hard I might want to. Getting the majority of it past the “Started” phase feels like a major accomplishment.

An even bigger accomplishment, I’m starting to learn is how to not even start a thing. How to say No and set small limits when I do accept a task…. It’s not as easy as I would like it to be, but I’m finding the short-term discomfort of not “pleasing everyone” is more than made up for by the decreased angst and disappointment of looming deadlines, late deliveries, failed efforts…. and all the stress that those things bring with them.

So, along with my other ROW80 goals, that is my major WIP at the moment: Me.

At LandLubber’s in Atlantic City this December

How did I do since my last check-in (typed in the comments of the Facebook thread)? Well, here’s my list of “updated” goals with annotations:

• Continue to freewrite daily; aim for at least three pages or 20 minutes BICHOP There’s been some writing accomplished. Very little. I slept a lot from being sick this weekend.
• Maintain the ROW80 blog and update pages and info as I can Posts for the next week are scheduled
• Spend an hour daily, five days a week, sorting computer files (photos, notes, etc.) While I didn’t achieve a full five days this week, I did get a lot of photos (and some notes) sorted. 1/2 progress
• Spend an hour daily typing in notebooks, five days a week If I managed two hours all week, that would surprise me, but I did type in some stuff
• Reading… focus on reducing the “presently reading” list by finishing the library books (the hold up here is that several are non-fiction for research purposes, and those can be slow going when I’m taking copious notes or cross referencing details) I finished two books on my TBR… just in time for another book to be picked up at the library
• Update name blog and test it for “digestibility“ Mostly I’m just doing posts for the Weekend Writing Warriors (and I have a First Friday Photo post scheduled as well. That said, I finally fixed my timezone issue. So real progress here
• Learn the ins and outs of the Fediverse (Mastodon, Diaspora, etc.) Nothing; I’d ditch this task if I didn’t feel it will be necessary in the long term
• Maintain a weekly sabbath, a day where I do not NEED to do anything at least If sleeping most of Saturday away having fever sweats under the blankets counts, then yep. Even if it doesn’t… I do feel better than I have in a while, and that’s no bad thing.

That’s about all there is for now. I am off to make some late lunch and get some laundry done. See you all on Wednesday