Drawing from the Well
Queries: 53 (+0)
Rejections: 46 (+0)
First Eighth
Chapter 4 of 89
Scene 20 of 498
Word Count: 4716 (+614)
Things went a little sideways this weekend so my word count is down. That and I’m writing mostly reaction/setup scenes which take me longer to write since I’m focused on realism and believability. Still, progress is progress. There’s also a lot of jumping around as everything is branching from the nexus I crafted at the end of Book One so it’s a lot of reference. It’s coming along.
Filling the Well
The Bible: 79%
Miraclist: 35%
The Handmaid’s Tale: 25%
Blue Lily, Lily Blue: 24%
I got some time to read the other day, but all I’ve had time for the last day and a half is the Bible, which is good, but it takes a lot of reading to make progress on that. More to come today, hopefully.
Polishing the Well
I ended up doing a bridal show yesterday because my lovely wife was stricken by a migraine as soon as she woke up. So it was a hard, busy day for me. I’m hoping it was worthwhile. It was a different market and attendees acted differently than we’ve seen in other markets. We’ll see what happens there.
Well Chat
Feeling, Channeling, Handling
We all get angry. We all get tired. When those two collide, it can create a molotov cocktail that we’re just waiting to hurl at someone or something. This morning was one of those mornings for me.
Plus I added an “accelerant” of stress so that only amped things up.
Yes, this is a personal post.
So the feeling of anger itself is totally normal and natural. Anger is a defense mechanism that grows out of fear. We afraid of something happening so we get angry at the entity causing that fear.
“Why would you do that?”
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Ow! That hurt!”
These are just a few reactions that often lead to anger. It often comes on suddenly and unexpectedly and as a result of that abrupt approach can lead to knee-jerk reactions. We’ve all overreacted to stimuli based on how we’re feeling on the inside. Our anger can then stoke anger in others and create a negative feedback loop (well, it’s a positive feedback loop because it builds on itself, but it’s totally bad and unhealthy).
The important thing to learn is to know what to do with it when it comes on. And it will come on, without fail. On a long enough timeline, EVERYONE gets mad. To me, there is only one option: channel it into something else. Now, I’m not recommending throwing a coffee mug. That leads to guilt. And a mess. No, find healthy places to channel that anger. Work (project, not dealing with people), writing, something creative, and cleaning are all CONSTRUCTIVE outlets for that anger. For me, anger has always manifested as energy so to disperse the emotion, I have to disperse the energy that it’s attached to. So I clean or I write or I work.
There’s also channeling it into the void. That is to let it go. You can breathe through it, meditate, go for a run, do yoga, or some other contemplative or exercise activity. That is still channeling the energy. One end is creation and the other is destruction. The important thing is not to channel that energy at another person. When that happens, that energy becomes solely destructive and you hurt people.
This is as much me talking to myself as anyone else so learn from my folly this morning, friends, and I look forward to talking to you on a day when I’m in a better mood. Happy Monday…hopefully.
May the tide carry you to safer shores.
BSG