Monday, July 13, 2009

Kiki: Goals + Yoga = Yogoals?

Writing Goals: July 13-19

*Write 15,000 words for current SYZ chapter, to meet 20,000 words by Friday afternoon
*Write three Morning Pages each day 
*Write and illustrate an Artist's Prayer from 'The Artist's Way'
*Continue posting daily at The Prosecco Life
*Put in time on the yoga mat daily

With two weeks of July already gone, that leaves only three weeks in which to complete this chapter - and that means it's time to stop hiding behind research and start pounding the keys. To some degree, I'm forcing myself to start doing the major writing for this chapter well before I usually would, and that feels a bit uncomfortable because there seems to be less material for this chapter than the others.  They easily run about 50 pages, but I'm not convinced this one will be as close.  Still, that's what a draft is for, right?  To put it all out there, and then go back and flesh it out? (Once your advisor gets back to you, of course - mine is now two chapters behind in getting comments back to me. Shall we make it three?)

The Artist's Way is proving incredibly illuminating. Morning Pages have been both difficult and enlightening, and I've finally worked up to (allowing myself the time for?) three full pages. I've worked out that in my little notebooks, because of the line spacing and the way I write, it comes out to about 15 minutes for each page. At three pages and 45 minutes, that's a fair chunk of time, which I now know means I have to be up at 5 a.m. on weekdays so I can make tea and write MPs by 6 a.m. in order to do the rest of my morning goodies in time for the day.

Some really interesting ideas have come out of those pages: of all the things to write about, it always comes back to yoga and spirituality. It's been five whole weeks now, and those are the predominant themes, which is also why I'm going to backtrack in the TAW tasks to write an Artist's Prayer. That's also why I've listed a daily yoga practice as one of my writing goals this week - something's going on here that is actually portending a major shift, and it has to do with yoga.  This shift is big enough that I'm planning on returning my blog back to its original site and name, Yogademia, on its very own site. Truly, what comes out of my MPs is a little bit intimidating - I'm not quite ready to publicize it yet, it's so big, but aligning my personal writing with it seems to be a good first step.

Rewards: 
*Purchase the domain name for Yogademia
*Get a monthly subscription to Yoga Today now that they've cut nearly all their free content.

7 comments:

  1. Yogademia = yay!!!!! can't wait to see what you end up doing.

    It takes me about 15min/page too with the MPs. I have to get up about the same time as you to get them done, which part of me thinks is kinda crazy but then some of my most original ideas come out in them. Wish I didn't feel so conscious of the clock. What else do you do as part of your morning routine/ritual?

    Good luck with that chapter! You can do it!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. love love love LOVE Yogademia. seriously that's awesome!!

    can't wait to the illustration of an Artist's Prayer - please share!

    ReplyDelete
  3. sweet! i look forward to the yoga insights...

    i'm not so strict about my MPs...they are mid-morning pages for me, which works for now, but once classes start that will shift a bit too.

    best of luck with this chapter!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. R - I'm really excited about yogademia too - you know it was all based on that random comment you made on my blog ages ago! Right now one of my other projects is creating a morning ritual, so your question is perfect. I've gotten as far as "make tea, write morning pages, turn on computer." I need to put a little bit more space in between those last two.

    C - The Artist's Prayer is stressing me out a little bit, I have to admit. All the hopes and beliefs that have to go into it, eek! Maybe I should illustrate first and write second?

    D - Thanks for the good wishes! I tried doing them later in the day, and everything just felt "off" when that happened. But oh, "once classes start," that familiar refrain...

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's amazing what morning pages can do. What I really struggle with is the balance of doing all these things (MP, morning ritual) with long work hours and sleep. There are times i sacrifice sleep a lot for MP, but then there's phases where sleep seems more nurturing too. I think it's all about timing in life.

    Congratulations on everything you are doing :)

    I love the yogademia concept - hope you merge all your great blog content from both yogademi and prosecco life :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yes, I also find the content emerging from my morning pages a touch intimidating. Some things need to be digested slowly. Recurrent themes are also Yoga and Spirituality (surprisingly enough!) and all together has brought me to make the decision of joining a Yoga Training programme in October. I had my interview and I've been accepted on the course, hooray! Kiki, you made me think after your Yogademia blog idea. Maybe I should go back to my Yoga Journey blog (which I abandoned in order to simplify my life). Since now on Yoga is going to become an even bigger part of my life, maybe it should have its own space. I don't know yet, I need to think it through... I get up before 6am too to get everything done. Sometimes I go to bed later and that destroys my whole night and morning routine. If I don't manage to do my ritual, I don't feel like I'm starting my day well. But, as City girl says, sometimes sleeping can be nurturing aswell. I can't do without sleeping my 8 hours a day. I really can't function otherwise. I wonder what is going to happen to my morning routine in the autumn, when classes start again... I live quite far away from uni so the time I spend travelling is always a problem. Anyway, without anticipating problems, my current morning ritual is going very well. I wake up, take my ayurvedic suplement, light a candle, go straight to morning pages, then 30 min yoga, then meditation, then shower, breakfast and I'm ready for the day.
    I look forward to reading Yogademia!
    How amazing all the good things happening after Morning Pages!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I know you have several blogs at the moment, have you thought about combining them to some extent? Not only might that unify the thought processes somewhat, but it would also help streamline your day if so much time is spent commuting. Sleep is key for me, too - if I don't get enough, things just go all pear-shaped on me.

    Your morning ritual is so inspiring, you pack in so much! What time do you get up, and how long before leaving for work is that?

    ReplyDelete