This week has been a rough one. I have been resisting the vice all week. I’ll get into what I mean by that below. Just know, writing is always on my mind even if I can’t get my hands on it. Thanks for the support.
Drawing from the Well
As you could guess from my brief comments above, I made no editing progress this week. Here’s hoping for better next week.
Arc I: 64/64
Arc II: 60/60
Arc III Part I: 24/24
Arc III Part II: 31/31
Arc IV: 44/44
Arc V: 24/59
Interstitia: 0/11
Total: 247/291
Filling the Well
At least reading wasn’t a goose-egg. I finished Convergence, the final novel in the Aliomenti Saga. It was great. The first six books we somewhat self-fulfilling, filling in the gaps between each other in time. Book 7 finally moved into unknown territory and it was great. Loved it. I also read Outsystem by M.D. Cooper and it was more entertaining and interesting than I expected, so I’m on Book 2 of that series now. I’m still slightly ahead of pace so I hope to keep that up this week.
7/105 for #ProjectBookworm2023
We finally finished The West Wing and MAN was that a great show. We’ll probably watch it a third time at some point. For now, we’re back on Madam Secretary which is also great if in other ways.
Well Chat
Life is long and hard. We all know this. At times, life is going to horn in on your best laid plans and prevent progress on some things that are important to you. That was me this week. I have many competing ideals (writing, reading several books including the Bible, keeping up on gaming news, etc.) on top of my “real-life” responsibilities. I begrudge none of it. This week, the latter overtook the former, though.
We’ve talked before about rolling with the punches. This week, life felt like a vice, cranking down further and further upon me. As you would expect, things squeezed out the sides. No writing progress, very little reading progress. The important thing at times like this is not to get crushed. Keep your cool, do what you can, and be kind to those around you. I definitely complained more than I was proud of. That was part of my personal fortitude failing. Still, work happened on all fronts and I did well at all of it. That was the key.
The question you’re probably asking is how. How did you get through? How did you cope? How did you keep your cool throughout it all? All good questions.
I got through by focusing on the next one to two things. I didn’t have great field vision here. All the scheduled events were in my head in order, but I couldn’t focus on much beyond which one was I doing now and which came next. I stayed in the moment and tried to do the best job at what I was doing right then. I ignored as much of what was to come because it was just overwhelming. Now, I’m heading into the last event of the vice and am about to come out the other side. It feels good. I know I’ve done well, if not as well as I would like.
As for coping, I listened to my body. I ate when I could, slept when I had to. I listened to music to soothe my soul and reminded myself why I was doing this: for my family. I leaned into my love for them as much as I could. It was enough, but there was nothing left most days. That’s okay sometimes. As far as keeping my cool, lots of deep breaths and a truckload of empathy.
This is NOT a complaint blog. I want you to hear this, to know that despite the success I’ve seen so far with my first book, life still gets hard. I hope some of this helps you when the going gets tough (especially if that’s where you are right now). I pray for strength and centering for you.
May the tide carry you to safer shores.
BSG