Dagger's Progress as a Nomad

[Casbin]

^^ or something.
I hope you will find the patience to keep doing what you need and find a way to write the way you want regardless.

Send from mobile

[Dagger]

16 hours ago, Vibrantella said:

Good luck!

Sent from my GT-P3110 using Tapatalk
 

13 hours ago, Rebel Pilot Gar said:

Do good things!!

 

8 hours ago, Casbin said:

^^ or something.
I hope you will find the patience to keep doing what you need and find a way to write the way you want regardless.

Send from mobile
 

Thanks.  <3

[Dagger]

The August novel will not be finished in August. I'm currently sitting on about 11k words. Not nearly enough and even my plan from two nights ago of trying to finish it on Friday and just sending it in a few hours late is not realistically going to happen.

 

Too big a gap for me to motivate myself to do it, to really try.

 

This makes me sad, not for the challenge but because I had a plan of what I'd start doing come September 1, and I now have to move parts of those somewhere else. I wanted to start on a non-fiction project, but I know that if I start that before I finish this novel, then I'm not sure I'll ever finish the novel. I have troubles going back to a project at a later date.

 

Beyond that I have other plans, other ideas and right now I just feel so torn in different directions and I've kept watching videos about space and I keep getting distressed about the meaning of it all. If earth is such a small piece of the puzzle, what difference does it make what I do? And even on earth I can't change much and there are so many more important things to change than writing a novel that might change the life of one person. I could work for a non-profit, speak out about injustice and/or many other things that would help more people. Help people in a more tangible direct way.

 

I'm feeling incredibly privileged and completely turned around by it. I'm just very confused right now. So I'm going to put down a list of to dos I need to do, stuff I want to do, other things that might enter into my mind and I'll let them come out in whatever order they want to because until I get the mess out of my head, I can't start untangling it. After that I need self care.

• Finish August novel
• Update word counts about my novels on the summer challenge post
• Send Dean an email about not finishing the last novel and thanking him again for still crediting me a win
• Work on the last assignment on the online workshop I am in, deadline September 7
• My parents will come next weekend to visit London, so probably need to talk to them next week and figure out a time and place to meet or at least a day
• I have four musicals I want to catch. I was meaning to go to one with a friend so I should contact her
• I want to meet up with Vibrantella again after she gets back from France, I want to plan that
• I want to go to Kew gardens
• I want to go to the Japanese gardens in Holland park
• Oh why am I feeling so confused and conflicted about what is most important in my life and why now?
• I want to dig into Nourish Yourself 2.0 with is starting this week. Thank earth, fire, air, and water for Kate and her perfect timing.
• Nourish Yourself means inventory, perhaps a ritual or so this week and more later
• I want to start elements. Beside walking I haven't done more with my body except the afternoon I spent with SymphonicDan. I love moving my body I want that back
• There are like so many day trips and stuff people have suggested to me, do I want to do any of them?
• Oh and then work stuff...
• I want to transcribe a heck ton of notes over the next few weeks before I leave London
• And London, I just extended my stay until the 26th and I need to get a hotel in Paris for 26-30th
• Along with that I should contact my UK friend K I met in Marseille last year because she's just moved to Paris and it would be fun to meet up if she has time
• I also have a few other people I could contact about meet ups in London: F, H & A, and I'm pretty sure there was one more on the list. Oh and I could contact J and see if she lived close enough for a day trip, might be fun.
• Did I say I need to book tickets to musicals? Yeah, yeah I did
• So what more plans did I have for London?
• Well I want to do a couple of forgiveness things, a couple of fuck you letters to be more exact.
• Oh, and I want to try and figure out or organize my Japanese learning some, I got this course in how to learn languages and I want to dig into that so I can learn more efficiently or whatever. Although his course seems to lead to a lot more expenses to specifically get good resources for Japanese, but whatever.
• Is that all? I feel like there is more... Let me look at my tabs...
• That, that might be it.

Added on edit a few hours later:

• Send Italy photos to R
• Cull Norway photos and put in dropbox
• Download dropbox photos

Support I could use? Any one who'd love to do an easily itemized list of this with tasks more succinctly put, feel free. I'd be grateful, but totally get how that is a boring thing. I also need to kinda organized them too.

 

I guess it would be good to do the square thing: Important -> Not Important, Urgent -> Not Urgent. I might do that later.

 

Now, I'm going to put this computer away, at least as a computer-uter. I might open it for self care reasons of meditations and such.

[SymphonicDan]

Sorry Dagger, I didn't mean to contradict your writing schedule so strongly - you know best what works and doesn't work for you in terms of time management but I'd find it stressful bunching up my work so close to a deadline. Obviously you wouldn't pad out your novel with shopping lists if you ran out of time haha, but what I meant is that your plan at the beginning of the month would presumably not be to leave all the work until the last few days or hours, but to do a modest amount each day - and you'd have good reasons for that - and so I wanted to encourage you to stick closer to that plan.

 

And I think we have the same problem in having so many things we want to do all the time! If anyone has a solution for how to get lots of things done without spending most of my time trying to decide and organize and prioritize, let me know because I've been searching for years

 

Are you planning to go to Japan at some point on your travels? I know quite a few people who've done the [learn Japanese -> travel Japan] thing, and enjoyed it despite finding the language aspect harder than they'd imagined.

[Plazmotic]

1 hour ago, Dagger said:

If earth is such a small piece of the puzzle, what difference does it make what I do?

Is it important to you that you make a difference somehow? Personally, I've been trying to focus on the fact that I am already "good enough" without trying to save the world or make my mark on history. By the very act of being, I am complete and worthy.

[Dagger]

49 minutes ago, SymphonicDan said:

Sorry Dagger, I didn't mean to contradict your writing schedule so strongly - you know best what works and doesn't work for you in terms of time management but I'd find it stressful bunching up my work so close to a deadline. Obviously you wouldn't pad out your novel with shopping lists if you ran out of time haha, but what I meant is that your plan at the beginning of the month would presumably not be to leave all the work until the last few days or hours, but to do a modest amount each day - and you'd have good reasons for that - and so I wanted to encourage you to stick closer to that plan.

I didn't quite get that was your aim. And I agree with that. I want my writing to be a marathon and not a sprint so to say. I want to get to the point that I write daily or close to it, whether I have a deadline or not. And if I do have a deadline I want to start the project early enough that I don't have to do a sprint to finish it in time.

 

The problem was that by the time you wrote your message, there was about a week or less until deadline (I believe) and the marathon had already changed to a sprint and there was no way I could finish the novel by a slow plodding pace I want to use in the future. Of course, in the end, it turned out that I did plod along and just didn't finish it in time.

 

So no worries. I mainly wanted to say that because so many equate quality with how/how fast/when something was written, and no surprise, that is what everyone is taught. It is however easy to disprove with a few historical examples of classics if nothing else.

 

53 minutes ago, SymphonicDan said:

And I think we have the same problem in having so many things we want to do all the time! If anyone has a solution for how to get lots of things done without spending most of my time trying to decide and organize and prioritize, let me know because I've been searching for years

Haha, working on it too. Except for a few hours ago, I know the way I want to figure it out, and it is with a focus on ease. Not forcing or constricting my way to getting it all done, but to gently enter processes and follow priorities.

 

54 minutes ago, SymphonicDan said:

Are you planning to go to Japan at some point on your travels? I know quite a few people who've done the [learn Japanese -> travel Japan] thing, and enjoyed it despite finding the language aspect harder than they'd imagined.

I'm definitely planing to get back to Japan, right now I'm not sure if it'll happen next year or in 2019, but it is on the horizon and I don't want to delay it too long, because who knows what might happen.

[Dagger]

32 minutes ago, Plazmotic said:

Is it important to you that you make a difference somehow? Personally, I've been trying to focus on the fact that I am already "good enough" without trying to save the world or make my mark on history. By the very act of being, I am complete and worthy.

Thanks for asking this question. I am going to think on this for the next few hours/days and I already know it will bring me some peace because you reframed it in a way that makes sense. And I have a feeling that my answer will come out the same, I just need the thinking time first.

 

<3

[Dagger]

On 1/1/2017 at 2:31 PM, Dagger said:

11 12/12 new-to-me fiction books

Not really worth mentioning, it was alright.

 

This experiment/goal have been a complete success. It has gotten me to more willingly try new authors and books and reaching the goal in August means that there is still time for more. I've found a couple of series/authors where I read multiple books. I've been able to recommend a few of them. And while it hasn't made me make a dent in my un-read ebook library (hoarding...), I think I've read a couple of them and I feel ready to keep slowly lowering the unread pile. If only people would stop recommending books to me.

[Dagger]

On 5/26/2017 at 8:45 AM, Dagger said:

June novel: 33'200 words, finished on June 29, spell check and fact checking done on June 30, sent to Dean on June 30 with plenty of time to spare

 

July novel: 30'656 words, sent in on July 30

 

August novel: 11'086 words (didn't finish nor turn in)

The final counts for my summer challenge of novels.

[Vibrantella]

Glad that you're staying longer, and would love to meet again - perhaps Holland park, but let's organise it later.

About making a difference, I believe that everybody / all life is meaningful. Also, not everyone has a defined, or single life purpose, which is OK. Values to live by are sometimes sufficient to guide us.

On a more practical note, I only recently came across the idea of a personal 5-year plan. I find it very useful, as it offers enough time to master/achieve something big, yet is not as wishy-washy as a life plan.

Sent from my GT-P3110 using Tapatalk

[Severine]

On 8/24/2017 at 4:11 PM, Dagger said:

I clearly need something. I think I'm going to figure out some kind of reminder system of time passing, without making me try to control time again.

 

This might sound kind of odd but here's something that has really helped me with this: living nearby to beautiful bells that toll at regular intervals, or spending time in a place with a grandfather clock or something that did the same thing. When I lived in Scotland I could hear the bells from my room - they tolled a very short few chimes at the :15 and :30 and :45 and then a longer song on the hour followed by chimes to indicate what hour it was. I found it beautiful and also a very gentle natural way to keep a rough idea of time. After a while it kind of fades into the background and you don't notice every toll but it still penetrates your consciousness somehow. 

 

Obviously you can't carry bells around with you, but I bet you could find a phone app or something if it appealled to you. Or look for a flat near a church?

 

On 8/24/2017 at 4:15 PM, Dagger said:

I had a great time today, Dan! I'll also probably have doms tomorrow. Not so sure I like that.  My feet are so tired after all our walking, I should totally have taken the tub back, but by the time I realized I'd be less on my feet if I finished the walk. Haha.

 

Okay so obviously I know it's a typo and you meant to say the tube, but nevertheless I had an awesome mental image of you flying over London in a magic bath tub. So thanks for that

 

On 8/28/2017 at 6:03 PM, Dagger said:

I've specifically decided to not complain about how more words earlier would have been better. That is water under the bridge and nothing I can change. And also true.

 

This reminded me of a thing from the regret-themed meditation pack I'm doing on Headspace. He talks about accepting that regrets exist but realizing that the fact they exist isn't necessarily important or anything we need to pay attention to. Basically he suggests that, if you regret something, you should stop trying to fight against it and banish the regret (which won't happen for most people, it'll only make it stronger) and resist the urge to over-examine it (evaluating what went wrong, how to do better, or berating yourself) and just accept that you regret it but not feel any need to engage with the feeling - just let it exist. And it is very counter-intuitive for me, but actually kind of makes sense. 

 

On 8/29/2017 at 2:53 PM, Dagger said:

I completely understand what your message is, but I wanted to point something out. Also, I realize your message doesn't quite say this, because you say it is difficult to become a writer at 4am on deadline day. You aren't saying that it is impossible to be a good writer by writing like that. But a bit of lazy reading, like I did the first time I read your message still means that my thoughts below still fits. Not saying that you have to account for my lazy reading, but I needed to say the below since it bothered me.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~ 

 

How tired you are, how fast you are writing, how often you are writing, how regularly you are writing, how X you are writing, none of them doesn't matter for quality. It is a very damaging myth that shows up in a lot of places. Even if I write all night on deadline day, doesn't mean I'm not a good writer, it doesn't mean it won't be good writing.

 

I totally get that you didn't mean to imply that. Me and @fleaball and a few others (@Severine?) can prove with grades from last minute papers that quality doesn't depend on when you write it.

 

While I don't want to continue to follow my previous habits of finishing 50+% of a project the last couple of days before deadline, I don't want to put in my head the idea that not doing that makes me a good writer, because that basically says I'm a bad writer if I write like I have a few times before. I'm a writer, so I write. Sure I want to become better, but to become better all I need to do is write (no matter the hour) and perhaps study good writing outside of my own writing and study craft (story structure, characters, dialog, etc.). When I write, how tired I am when I write, nothing of that matters.

 

The only time fast writing or last minute writing can be worthless is if I decided that I'll just write whatever to try and hit the deadline. I don't care about quality, I'll just write my shopping list in the middle and then throw in a gun in a world that have no guns. Basically, if I try to write the best I can, it'll come out the best I can at that moment and a certain level of skill doesn't just disappear if I write in suboptimal conditions.

 

As I said above, I took a lot more from what you wrote than you meant to. You hit a nerve that about myths often told about writing, myths I'd like to kill so writers don't struggle unnecessarily.

 

This was an interesting read, particularly because I was always critical of myself for leaving work to the last minute even when the results came back really well. I do think that working ahead over a sensible schedule is "better" in various ways (less stressful, potentially more polished, etc.) and I definitely attached a lot of moral value to the idea of not procrastinating, to an extreme point where I would be ashamed of a highly-praised paper if I had done it at the last minute. In some ways I would feel extra shame the more highly praised it was, because it felt like I was somehow being dishonest by letting people say it was good?

 

And I think part of that is rooted in a realistic fact that, even if my papers were very well-received, I knew deep down I could have done more or done better if I had more time. But I think a lot of it was also over-moralizing of something that does not have an inherent moral value attached. 

 

As you say, many famous and admired writers are notorious for their procrastination. And when I was working at the last minute I worked with a truly intense focus and immersion that I could never manage to replicate in lower pressure situations. So perhaps there is something to be said for performance under pressure.

 

In the end I think it's a highly personal thing and different people react differently to different levels of pressure or different working structures. Personally I feel like my mental health is better and my stress is lower if I can spread the work out a little. And even if it takes me longer to get in the zone when the pressure is lower, it's worth it for me to develop the skill of finding "the zone" (I think it's called "flow" on WaitButWhy) at a non-last-minute time. But at the same time I would really like to stop feeling ashamed about the writing prizes and academic awards I won, simply because I am mentally punishing myself for my own work habits.

 

Quote

• I have four musicals I want to catch. I was meaning to go to one with a friend so I should contact her
• Did I say I need to book tickets to musicals? Yeah, yeah I did

 

There's a booth in Leicester Square (possibly more than one, can't recall exactly) that sells last-minute tickets to musicals and shows at a substantial discount. Basically once it's a few hours before the show they figure any seats not yet sold they might as well sell cheaply because getting half price from a patron is better than an empty seat. If you are flexible about what you want to see, it's definitely worth a visit. When I was in London we did this a couple times and it was fantastic. Got to see amazing shows at almost half price and the adventure of the spontaneity of it made it more fun.

 

5 hours ago, SymphonicDan said:

If anyone has a solution for how to get lots of things done without spending most of my time trying to decide and organize and prioritize, let me know because I've been searching for years

 

Yeah sign me up for this newsletter!

 

6 hours ago, Dagger said:

Beyond that I have other plans, other ideas and right now I just feel so torn in different directions and I've kept watching videos about space and I keep getting distressed about the meaning of it all. If earth is such a small piece of the puzzle, what difference does it make what I do? And even on earth I can't change much and there are so many more important things to change than writing a novel that might change the life of one person. I could work for a non-profit, speak out about injustice and/or many other things that would help more people. Help people in a more tangible direct way.

5 hours ago, Plazmotic said:

Is it important to you that you make a difference somehow? Personally, I've been trying to focus on the fact that I am already "good enough" without trying to save the world or make my mark on history. By the very act of being, I am complete and worthy.

 

This is similar to something I'm working on. The way I think of it is this: wherever I am, try to be good to myself and the people around me and do whatever I'm doing in the best way I can. Whether I'm saving beached whales or babysitting my niece or managing a shop or building a bookcase, there is always an opportunity to be a force for good in the world. Any non-inherently-evil activity or career or hobby can be good and valid and worthwhile if it is pursued in the right way.

 

Society doesn't work if we have nothing but heroic heart surgeons and dedicated nonprofit workers. We need cooks and plumbers and professors and artists and janitors and accountants and bus drivers. Everyone is part of the whole, and by being whoever we are and whatever we are in a compassionate and curious way, taking care of ourselves and those around us, we're helping "save the world."

[Dagger]

2 hours ago, Vibrantella said:

Glad that you're staying longer, and would love to meet again - perhaps Holland park, but let's organise it later.

About making a difference, I believe that everybody / all life is meaningful. Also, not everyone has a defined, or single life purpose, which is OK. Values to live by are sometimes sufficient to guide us.

On a more practical note, I only recently came across the idea of a personal 5-year plan. I find it very useful, as it offers enough time to master/achieve something big, yet is not as wishy-washy as a life plan.

Awesome! Sounds great.

 

The planing part of my brain would love to make a five year plan. I might have even tried them in the past, haha. I'm definitely going into a phase of more structure again, but I'm not sure I'm up to looking five years into my future. Who knows where I'll be, eh?

[Dagger]

36 minutes ago, Severine said:

This might sound kind of odd but here's something that has really helped me with this: living nearby to beautiful bells that toll at regular intervals, or spending time in a place with a grandfather clock or something that did the same thing. When I lived in Scotland I could hear the bells from my room - they tolled a very short few chimes at the :15 and :30 and :45 and then a longer song on the hour followed by chimes to indicate what hour it was. I found it beautiful and also a very gentle natural way to keep a rough idea of time. After a while it kind of fades into the background and you don't notice every toll but it still penetrates your consciousness somehow. 

 

Obviously you can't carry bells around with you, but I bet you could find a phone app or something if it appealled to you. Or look for a flat near a church?

I actually wore a bell on my wrist all day for about a week, then my dad got fed up and asked me to stop wearing it because it was annoying at dinner. By that time I didn't even hear it anymore.

 

And I went looking for apps and there are some. Hourly chimes is apparently the name for the kind of app. I hope they work like I want them to (aka I don't have to turn off the alarm/chime, it is just a short thing), I'll try one in the next few days.

 

38 minutes ago, Severine said:

flying over London in a magic bath tub

This needs to be in a movie.

 

38 minutes ago, Severine said:

This reminded me of a thing from the regret-themed meditation pack I'm doing on Headspace. He talks about accepting that regrets exist but realizing that the fact they exist isn't necessarily important or anything we need to pay attention to. Basically he suggests that, if you regret something, you should stop trying to fight against it and banish the regret (which won't happen for most people, it'll only make it stronger) and resist the urge to over-examine it (evaluating what went wrong, how to do better, or berating yourself) and just accept that you regret it but not feel any need to engage with the feeling - just let it exist. And it is very counter-intuitive for me, but actually kind of makes sense.

I have a few different ways that I deal with regret. Most of the time the thing that works for me is to think through the day and see if there were actually any real points where I could have done different, that helps me let go of the regret because most of them time I'm kinda happy with my choices or willing to be happy about my choices which is not quite the same thing.

 

Otherwise, I try to just lean into the feeling of regret. I let myself feel it, acknowledge it and then I can release it. I'd kinda call this not engaging with the feeling, although I'm not sure that is what the meditation was about. Because it is about accepting it, feeling it and releasing it, and I release it by letting it exist and move through me.

 

What was it that you said on your challenge I think? That a feeling is fleeting, it is the stories around the feelings that make it stick around? Well, I've heard that in several places, so that is what I try to do. Just feel the feeling without following the stories that try to follow and then I release it.

 

42 minutes ago, Severine said:

In the end I think it's a highly personal thing and different people react differently to different levels of pressure or different working structures. Personally I feel like my mental health is better and my stress is lower if I can spread the work out a little. And even if it takes me longer to get in the zone when the pressure is lower, it's worth it for me to develop the skill of finding "the zone" (I think it's called "flow" on WaitButWhy) at a non-last-minute time. But at the same time I would really like to stop feeling ashamed about the writing prizes and academic awards I won, simply because I am mentally punishing myself for my own work habits.

Basically, I want that too. The marathon not the sprint.

 

43 minutes ago, Severine said:

it was also over-moralizing of something that does not have an inherent moral value attached. 

And this is what I was kinda trying to say. A sprint isn't inherently good or bad. A marathon isn't inherently good or bad. Putting those qualifiers on how I write is a wasteful and destructive practice; the less judgement I have about how I do something, the easier I find it to do it in a way I prefer. (And boy did I have many typos in that message. Passion does not make for grammatically correct writing.)

 

45 minutes ago, Severine said:

There's a booth in Leicester Square (possibly more than one, can't recall exactly) that sells last-minute tickets to musicals and shows at a substantial discount. Basically once it's a few hours before the show they figure any seats not yet sold they might as well sell cheaply because getting half price from a patron is better than an empty seat. If you are flexible about what you want to see, it's definitely worth a visit. When I was in London we did this a couple times and it was fantastic. Got to see amazing shows at almost half price and the adventure of the spontaneity of it made it more fun.

Thanks. I have heard of this. I think the reason I'll probably not do this is because I don't want to invest so many hours to go and get tickets and then wait around for the show to start, haha. Plus my spontaneity is definitely still a work in progress.

 

46 minutes ago, Severine said:

This is similar to something I'm working on. The way I think of it is this: wherever I am, try to be good to myself and the people around me and do whatever I'm doing in the best way I can. Whether I'm saving beached whales or babysitting my niece or managing a shop or building a bookcase, there is always an opportunity to be a force for good in the world. Any non-inherently-evil activity or career or hobby can be good and valid and worthwhile if it is pursued in the right way.

 

Society doesn't work if we have nothing but heroic heart surgeons and dedicated nonprofit workers. We need cooks and plumbers and professors and artists and janitors and accountants and bus drivers. Everyone is part of the whole, and by being whoever we are and whatever we are in a compassionate and curious way, taking care of ourselves and those around us, we're helping "save the world."

Thanks for the reminder. I know a lot of this, but sometimes we need reminders, eh? My writing mentors even have blog posts about why writing is still important when it seems like the world is crashing down around you. You know what? I think I'll queue those posts up for reading in the next couple of days.

[Kvedulf]

Damn, I didn't even know you were writing a novel. Awesome work! I think it's amazing that you're doing that. That's some hard work!

 I have absolutely nothing of any more value to add than that. 

[Dagger]

I wanted to tell you guys that I feel more grounded again. @Plazmotic's question was the first thing that pulled me back onto earth, realizing I had let my feet lift from my foundation and I needed to remember not what my purpose in the universe and its history is, but what my purpose is to me.

 

I'm still pondering her question, so I'll come back with an answer when I've had more time.

 

I'm also definitely seeing a return to more structured changes in the next month which I found by going back to analog means this afternoon. I'll reveal these over the next few days. I have a plan for the weekend and depending on how that goes I want to talk about things in different ways. Might mean I'll post tomorrow afternoon or maybe not until Sunday night. Although I will be here and talking no matter what.

[Dagger]

4 minutes ago, Kvedulf said:

Damn, I didn't even know you were writing a novel. Awesome work! I think it's amazing that you're doing that. That's some hard work!

 I have absolutely nothing of any more value to add than that. 

Thank you. <3

[Dagger]

I just remembered that I'm sure there are some people curious what my feedback was on the June novel? Right? Right?

 

もちろんですね。(Of course, right?) (Me practicing some Japanese, haha.)

 

IT WAS ALL GOOD. He loved the depth in the beginning of the novel (you know that thing I was talking about a few months ago that I struggle with a lot) and he read it all and found no problems that needed fixing. So I now need to find a new copyeditor (I have some options), make a cover, write back cover copy, and all the other things and I can publish it.

[Dagger]

Today was a very good day!

 

Writing, Nourish Yourself stuff, Japanese practice, working on workshop assignment (I could almost send it in now) and that is about it I think. I might have missed something.

 

Here is the blog post about why fiction (and fiction writers) are important: http://kriswrites.com/2016/10/19/business-musings-the-importance-of-fiction/

 

The only thing that didn't happen today was movement, except I think I'm going to go for a five minute walk despite the time being 22:45. See you guys tomorrow!

[J3NN]

Thanks for sharing the blog post. I think that's something I needed to hear right now. Both about the importance of fiction but also about the readers' escape and how it's so very important as well.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

[Severine]

On 8/31/2017 at 6:58 PM, Dagger said:

I'll reveal these over the next few days. I have a plan for the weekend and depending on how that goes I want to talk about things in different ways. Might mean I'll post tomorrow afternoon or maybe not until Sunday night. 

 

You are so mysterious  

[Dagger]

25 minutes ago, J3NN said:

Thanks for sharing the blog post. I think that's something I needed to hear right now. Both about the importance of fiction but also about the readers' escape and how it's so very important as well.

I needed to hear it too, and I'm glad it helped you. <3

[Dagger]

2 minutes ago, Severine said:

 

You are so mysterious  

Hehe, not my intent but a nice side benefit.

 

I know I've talked about it before, that I can't always talk about the changes I want to make until I've made them for a while, because talking about them steals the power from them. It is something I'm working on changing with myself, but it is slow going at time.

[Dagger]

I had a surprise rest day after all my productivity yesterday. I decided on that about 14:00 when the day had been a slow awakening and slow and easy decisions.

 

And I used my natural rhythm. After an especially productive day, I tend to have a very slow one. But even during a slow one I chipped away at some things I wanted to read and clear out and such.

 

Also I'll stop being suspenseful and tell you what I plan come Monday... in the next post (keeping my goal post clean)

[Dagger]

September Goals

 

Starting Monday September 4, I plan to follow a mind, body, spirit model for goals. I have one main goal with each, and a secondary goal, plus I have an overarching goal that kinda hits all three categories. And I'll add a to-do list at the end, partly culled from my thoughts in a previous post.

 

These goals will go until the September 24/25, on the 26th I go to Paris, France before going to Barcelona on the 30th. So this is basically three weeks plus one day.

 

Overall

• Writing
• Writing
• Reading (I haven't done much fiction reading lately, so this is just a reminder)

So I just felt like putting it like that. I will have a rough aim of 500 words per day with a focus on finishing my current novel in progress first and then I have blogs posts and a new project when I finish the novel.

 

So I am basically aiming for every day with an occasional day off.

 

The total number of days I work on I aim for is probably 18.

 

Body

• Movement
• Fasting

Movement can be anything. A walk (preferably longer, but doesn't matter), yoga, bodyweight workout or so. I've been planning to start Elements but I keep putting it off. For movement, I aim for every day although I don't mind if I miss one day or so. Total... 20.

 

Fasting is a secondary goal and something I want to try out. My ideal aim would be 1-2 24-hour fasts (dinner to dinner, lunch to lunch, etc.) a week. I'd be happy if I did 3 fasts over the whole three weeks. But there is no pressure here. It isn't so much an optional goal as something I want to try out. Total: 3

 

Mind

• Transcribing
• Japanese

I like how I'm putting transcribing first but Japanese will almost certainly happen every day because it is to just do. In any case, I have a lot of paper notes I want to transcribe into the computer so I can throw away the notebooks. I want to aim for doing some transcribing five days a week, so a total of 15.

 

Japanese is secondary, but can potentially be done really quick and easy if I want to. I suppose the main point will to preferably hit my first priority in each category before I do Japanese practice, aka keeping my priorities straight. Japanese practice may involve: Tiny Cards (flash cards), Duolingo, Memrise, Pimsleur, JapanesePod101, and any other resources I pick up during the three weeks. I aim for every day, but with the knowledge that I want to hit my number 1 priorities first and that might mean no Japanese practice. So like fasting I have a loose aim, but there is zero pressure so if it kinda falls to the side, that is alright. Total: 21 days (not counting the extra day).

 

Spirit

• Nourish Yourself 2.0 / other self care until NY 2.0 starts
• Exploration

Nourish Yourself started August 28, but the daily practice won't start until September 18 (if I remember correctly and nothing changes). My aim will be to do something daily for nourishment until NY starts its daily practice, then I'll do that. The daily nourishment can be prep things we'll do for NY or just meditation or so. I'd also like to get back to the daily evening routine of just thinking for a bit, but for that I need to stop staying up until exhaustion, haha. Total: 21

 

Exploration, wiiii! So this is basically on two days a week (basically the days I'm not transcribing) I want to go for larger excursions. This includes when I'll meet up with Vibrantella for the second time, when my parents come to London and I spend some time with them, when I go to Kew gardens, etc. So total: 6.

 

Of those six I already have a few things planned for them: parents, Vibrantella, British Museum and Kew gardens. That mean I have two more options of longer exploration, which might include meeting up with more friends and/or other things. You'll realize the shows I'm planing to go to is not currently part of this count, but it all depends on how I plan things and stuff. I just want to make sure I do go out and see stuff and let my curiosity take me somewhere a couple of times a week.

To Do list outside the above

Spoiler

• Contact parents about meeting up in London (ask dad to take a thing with him to me), Sep 6
• Finish Cover workshop assignment, deadline Sep 6
• Copy Japanese textbook CD before parents come, deadline Sep 7
• Send Italy photos to R, Sep 7
• Put together the things I'm sending back to Sweden with my parents, Sep 7
• Finalize plans with A for dinner, Sep 10 or 11
• Submit story to WotF, Sep 29, 1/1
• Book 2 shows, 2/2
• Go to 2 shows, 2/2
• Book hotel for Paris
• Shop a couple of things on Amazon, 4/2-3
• Return Amazon things if they don't fit, 0/0, all fit!!!
• Contact J about possibly doing a day trip to where she lives
• Contact Vibrantella about meeting again
• Do f*ck you letters to two people I need to do it for, 2/2+1
• Send short story for copyediting
• Send an email for tips of renting in Oregon next year
• Pay for workshops on the coast
• Go through Camp NF email about photos and download and everything else
• Finish 1-2 print books I travel with, 1/1-2
• Choose Norway photos and upload to Dropbox
• Contact K about meeting up in Paris
• Contact little brother just because
• Add other people's Norway pictures to my albums
• Fluent in 3 months, module 1-3, 0/3
• Contact one or more rental places in Oregon, 2/X

 

Oh, the to-do list looks pretty long. Some of it is kinda easy though. And I don't need to have done everything. I slightly prioritized it. The things with definite deadlines I put on top (self-imposed or otherwise) and then I put all the tasks I want to do in London whether I can do them later or not, and the the last few are more things I want to do too but it is okay if they get delayed.

 

So there you have it, my September plan. And I'm back in planing business, baby!

 

EDIT: Here is a review for how it went.

[Dagger]

Overall: Nope

Body: Walk

Mind: Japanese practice (non-transcript day)

Spirit: Meditation

 

Today was mostly a rest day too. I started rereading Patricia Briggs' series Mercedes Thompson on Friday, so on both Saturday and Sunday I woke up, poked around a little and then spent the next 3-4ish hours finishing the book I started the night before. Yes, that I means in the last couple of days I started and finished two novels, planing to start a third one tonight.

 

Tomorrow... I'll definitely make sure to not start reading fiction until I'm satisfied with my productivity for the day.