Taking Stock – Writing Wrongs

First, how is it almost November? Seriously? How?

Second, I am looking forward to November. I want to take stock, look ahead to the upcoming year, and consider what I want to write in the coming months. Obviously, more Pansy. That goes without saying.

Now that I’m no longer in burnout from the day job, I’m trying to figure out how much writing I can tackle.

Full-time writing isn’t something I have experience with. I’m so used to squeezing in my fiction writing in the margins of my life. I want to be more expansive without burning out on the writing itself. I suspect this will take experimentation and balance.

In other news, my daughter and I have cleared out the basement and pulled up the carpet and the tack strips. Y’all, we did this Friday, and I’m still sore and achy. But hopefully this week, we’ll have the new carpet installed (this is not a task we’re performing—we’re not that masochistic).

In a week or two, this should be the cozy space we’ve been wanting for a while. Perfect for pondering plans (or possibly world domination, but I’m feeling a little too sore for that).

Here’s to November! (I think.)

In the next few weeks, we’ll be bombarded with all sorts of blog posts and articles, podcasts and self-help books about goals and accomplishments.

I have nothing against goals and accomplishments, but these messages often focus on lack: not being enough, doing enough, having enough.

Before all that happens, I want to remind you to stop, take a deep breath, and remind yourself that you already know things, have accomplished something, and have what you need.

If you’ve been on this planet long enough to own a device that brings you here, onto the internet, and (somehow) to my blog, then you have skills. You can read words and process them. That, in itself, is no small thing.

I think we don’t always recognize what we do know. Like the old joke, asking the fish how the water is, and the fish replies: What water?

We take for granted the things we do know and can do. Like the fish, it’s the water we swim in, and we don’t recognize that someone else may find what we do both fascinating and impressive.

So before you’re bombarded with all that you haven’t done or have yet accomplished, take stock. You know lots of things, and you can do lots of things, from the small to the large. Can you whistle? Know how to deal with a surly customer? Cook the perfect egg?

Skills. Serious skills. I mean, I’ve never been able to whistle, and all attempts to teach me have failed.

Take a moment to give yourself credit for everything you already do. Take a moment to celebrate your accomplishments—big and small—and recognize your value before the onslaught of the new year.

Take a moment to breathe.