Something Needs to Give

As we transition into the heart of December and deadlines creep closer, certain tasks begin to take precedence over others. That said, I can be rather hardheaded at times, and so even though I say, "I will be taking the next two Wednesdays off," what I really mean is, "I'm still going to attempt to blog on those days unless I'm so far behind on my projects I need the extra time I would normally dedicate to writing up a post."

So, if you don't hear from me for a week or two, it's not that I've just up and disappeared and forsaken the art of weekly blogging. Naaaaah. It's just that something needed to give, and I need to prioritize my other projects more.

I really can't wait to catch up on these journals.

Other Notable Accomplishments:

• Edited & Posted Cael's journals for the 7th & 8th of Nudon: 4,443 words (I'm almost upset by this number...)

  • The 8th was especially time consuming because the rewrite I ended up with was almost 3k words by the time I decided it was "good enough," which was actually a thousand words fewer than the original first draft I wrote at the beginning of my 13-week journal.

• Transcribed Sessions 98 & 99: ~5 hours total to transcribe

• Wrote Cael's journal for the 17th of Nudon: 1,721 words

• Wrote correspondence between Cael and some other characters: 874 words

• BWS Phase 2 Full Body Workouts C, B, and A respectively: ~1.5 hours each

• C25K Week 6 Day 2

  • Had to take advantage of the spike in warm weather before it plummeted again

Hold on, even I need to take a moment to just process this list, because holy kit and caboodle it's a lot.

Questions for Contemplation & Discussion:

• The final stretch before the New Year is a whirl for many, making it difficult to slow down and breathe. I mean, shoot, look above, and you'll see that I'm in the same storm. What are some actionable steps you can take over the course of the next couple of weeks to de-stress and re-attune to your center?

  • For example, during your next breakfast or lunch break, can you take the thirty or so minutes to eat without letting external distractions claim your attention? I find that eating breakfast without the TV on or chatting with anyone is rather peaceful and gives my mind time to wander and finish waking up. Even sipping some hot cocoa or coffee and staring out a window for five minutes can be enough. No need to push an already over-stimulated mind.

• What projects and obligations can wait until after the holidays?

  • No, really. Be realistic and ask yourself if [insert obligation here] is really going to crash and burn if you don't meet the deadline. It's easy to begin catastrophizing as the stress mounts but very rarely does the worst-case scenario play out.

  • On my end, technically speaking, I could relax my hands on the reins and not worry about catching up on journals before New Year's, but because I made a personal commitment that ranks as my top priority, I'm doing my best to keep it as my non-negotiable. Now, if I somehow fail to fulfill that commitment to 100% completion, I'll be disappointed, but it won't be the end of my storytelling career.

This Week's Obligatory Cat Pic: Salad & Qiri

Salad thinking she's a ninja