Ever feel like you’re treading water or like you’re one of those ducks you see swimming on the pond? You know, looking all graceful and put together, but underneath the surface, there’s a whole lot of stuff going on?
School and Freelance Work:
That about sums things up for me these past few days. Been getting up at 5 or 5:30, drink coffee, eat a bagel or something else for breakfast and then get started on whatever project needs to be done that day, or on which I think I can make the most headway. Busy reading not one but two books for my classes at the same time.
Doing some transcribing for my friend Elaine. Readying myself to work with another company on a weekly basis so I will still have freelance work when Elaine shuts down her company in the upcoming months. (In case you’re wondering from my last post – I decided to only apply to one outside transcribing company, not the three that I was considering. I was just getting way too stressed thinking about getting all of that work done and finishing my school assignments. Oh yes, and sleep – sleep is important!!)
Self-Care:
Trying to work out about 3-4 times per week. I reward myself with 10 minutes on the hydro massage beds that Planet Fitness has for Black Card members afterwards.
Writing:
Writing about who I am as a writer for one of my classes, and trying to not freeze while I’m doing it. I feel a bit like a fraud. I just throw words down on the paper, thinking I can go back and edit it afterwards, or if something else comes to me, I can add it then. There is shortage of ideas or topics I would like to explore with my writing, but who am I as a writer?? That halts the flow of ideas and thoughts.
I don’t know why I feel this way about my writing sometimes. Maybe it’s because I don’t feel like I can define myself in just one or two terms.
“I’ve been finding it easier to write in the essay about what I want to be as a writer rather than what I am now.”
I want to be a fiction writer. I want to write a memoir — everybody keeps telling me I should write a book about my life since my path has been so unusual. But who would want to read about my life??
Reviewing Books:
I am so flattered to have been contacted by Ashland Creek Press, located in Ashland, Oregon. They’ve asked me if I would like to receive some review copies of their books. Wow! This is how they describe themselves on their “About Us” page:
Changing the world one book at a time
Ashland Creek Press is a vegan-owned boutique publisher dedicated to publishing books with a world view. We’re passionate about the environment, animal protection, ecology, and wildlife, and our goal is to publish books that combine these themes with compelling stories.
So let’s see — do they seem like a perfect company for me with which to stay in contact??!! Hell yes!!!
Vegan-owned? Check!
Publishes books with a world view? Check!
Passionate about animals, environment, wildlife and ecology? Check!
So I’ve asked them to send copies of two books to me and I will let you know as soon as I’m done with them, my thoughts. I would have asked them for more but didn’t want to seem piggish. 🙂
Take a look at their page if you share any of these same interests with me! (And no, they are not compensating me to mention them.) I’m so excited to see that there are publishers out there who are focused on such markets and topics!
Keeping it all together:
You could say I’m busy, but if you know me, you know that’s the way I am and like to be. I like to be productive. I believe my friend Dan would call my hyper-focused at times, or the Energizer Bunny. I find that using a paper planner and setting a few goals for myself each day helps me keep organized and on track.
“I’ve also been reminding myself to breathe. I’m a human. I can’t do it all. Just focus on what I can get done every day.”
As I’ve said in a recent post, if I want to make changes to my life, I have to do the work. You can’t just sit around and complain or wish for your life to change, magically, without any effort.
Have you ever felt like there is a bit of pandemonium in your life? How have you kept things under control?
As always, thank you for reading!! Please share if this post has helped you or if you know someone that could benefit from it.
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Chasing Simple Dreams 
I live a pretty boring life. I actually like that. I focus on family, work and of course investing. I feel like I am more in control when I keep life as simple as possible. I also agree that you have to be willing to put in the work if you want to make real change.
Simple is good. I definitely agree with you on that! I think you are at a more settled place in life than I am, though. I’m still searching for my why, I think. At 45, though, I wonder if I will ever find it. Or is my life supposed to just be this eternal search?
Your post reads like a whirlwind, intentional or not, so I get the feel of your life. I agree with the pecnnypincher above, I like manageable, I like my leisurely reading time, my walking in the woods time. More power to you Terri!! REgarding writing: every author that I’v e read/listened to has said, Just Write, that’s the important thing.
I felt like I was writing in a whirlwind when I was writing it too! And I’m trying to “just write.” Just finished up my first writing assignment for my Writing for Social Change class. I agonized over it for a long time and then decided to just let that frustration and fear come out on the page. The professor said we should let the “real you” come through on the page. So, well, I did. I think writing this blog post even helped me to get to that point of honesty in that assignment.
I have been trying to create “me” time every day too. When I drive to work, I keep the radio to “off.” It’s my time to just think (while, of course, paying attention to the cars around me.) But it’s my time for silence. The one time in the day when I am completely alone.
I’m impressed you write as much as you do. I see the multiple emails every day alerting me there is a new post. I’m just like “how does she do it?” But writing, like running, is cheaper than therapy. It helps us in so many ways. Makes fears seem smaller, doesn’t it?
You have a lot of poles with spinning plates to keep going all at once. (You’ve seen that act, right? Where they guy spins plates on poles, and then adds more and more?) That’s got to be stressful, but out of all that work you will find the one true path that completes you. Just have faith.
HI Dawn, yep, I have definitely seen those acts. Thank God I’m not juggling swords that are on fire! I think that’s why I am putting myself through all of this right now – I know that from doing all of these things – school, freelance work, working with animals in a variety of ways – I will figure it out. Eventually. Thank you. I do have faith.
What wonderful news about the publisher getting in touch! I am looking forward to reading your reviews. It’s sometimes hard to find companies that align with our values – so glad places like this exist 🙂
-Sal
I am too!!! Yes, now to find the time to read them!! But I will make it one of my priorities.