Vienna: Back on track

Wednesday?? How did that happen? Let's start from the beginning:

Sunday: End of the reading ban. Hooray!

First thing I did when I got up: go to SWIM (yoga and morning pages happened afterwards). I just needed to know what had been going on and OMG! New member (Welcome Lauren); new initiatives (Seasonal??WIM); new ideas (thanks, Kiki, for your brainstorm, you have an amazingly creative mind!) and all the regular fantastic posts and comments (thanks for all the support given during my reading ban week). I thought I'd start getting updated with all your posts and then I spent time replying to everyone. I was about to write my own check-in post when I remembered: R's sister + partner were coming to visit for a couple of days. So that was the end of my reading and writing allowance. They just left this morning and, although my writing-reading-creating activities have been bracketed, I had a fantastic time. If finding your artist is linked to nurture your inner child, I have absolutely achieved this goal during the past three days. Sunday: pictionary game (I lost for first time in years... boo... great fun though); Monday: Alton towers (theme park with the most amazing scariest rollercoasters EVER! The picture above shows 'Oblivion' a horrifying vertical drop towards a hole in the floor, which for some strange reason I put myself through twice!!!); Tuesday: pool + more pictionary+sharades!!! And now suddenly is Wednesday and I haven't written a word, I HAVEN'T READ a word, and I am determined to catch up with everything.

Quick Check-in:

1. Creative Writing: Surprisingly not as much as you'd expect for a 'reading ban' week. I edited my short story 'Shooting'. I got some feedback. And when I thought I had finished something I realised that was only the beginning. The editing carries on. However, I should measure my success with the time and the thought put into writing, rather than with the final product.

2. Blogging: I posted three times in Ones and 3 in SWIM. Ermmmmmm........

3. Work (at uni): Well, since I couldn't read (and I couldn't tell anyone about that) I have been tidying up, de-cluttering, getting ready for next year. It has taken me longer I thought! The amount of paper, files, notebooks, you accumulate in less than a year! It felt very liberating and I actually felt keener to start the next academic year.

As you can see, although I didn't read a word (torture, torture, torture) I didn't write as much as I thought I would. I felt very busy all the time. Having to spend 8 hours a day in the office doesn't provide me with the ideal time and space co-ordinates to do my writing so I still didn't feel I gained more time with the reading ban. When I got back home I felt very tired to do anything massively creative. The process I went through was a pretty sophisticated one and I don't think I have figured it out completely yet. GOAL FOR NEXT WEEK: To spend time reflecting on my reading ban week (more) and to write a post about it (in Ones). What did I do then? CLEANING, DE-CLUTTERING, RUNNING, DOING YOGA, LISTENING TO MUSIC and ACTUALLY GOING TO AN INTERVIEW AND GETTING ACCEPTED INTO A YOGA TEACHER TRAINING COURSE.

I definitely deserve a REWARD this week (maybe I should be more strict with myself... I don't know). Well, I survived the reading ban, so yes, what do you think I got? Of course, books (although I haven't re-started my Saturday yet, surprisingly enough). You can see the picture above.

By the way, this week I am on actual HOLIDAYS, which means I don't have to go to the office or check my work e-mail which means I can dedicate GUILTfree (and endless) TIME to my creative writing. I have only three days though, since on Saturday I'm going to a wedding in Manchester. It's funny the role of GUILT in our creative writing. Something I need to work on...

Anyway, this post is becoming TOO LONG (sorry). GOALS:

1. Creative writing: This time I'm going to base my goal on TIME invested rather than ACHIEVEMENT. 4 hour block every day. Sub-objective: get 'Shooting' done and dusted.

2. Blogging: Everyday from now to Saturday.

Right now I'm feeling quite anxious about how fast the summer is happening! I realise I'm going through a really important CREATIVE process in my life but I would like to be able to see more WRITING RESULTS. Maybe this thoughts aren't very helpful. One thing I learnt while on the rollercoasters was how useless the cueing build-up and anxiety were. How unnecessary. Once you were on the ride all previous thoughts meant nothing. There was only one thing left: to relax and enjoy the ride. I hope I can do the same with my writing.

Oops! I forgot to write 3. MORNING PAGES and 4. Artist's Way tasks.