Solstice Writing Inspiration Movement

Let's see this week.

2010-03-09T13:48:00.000-05:00

I've got a lot of writing to work on this week. I'm doing some article proposals (two actually) and they both require all.this.research. Ugh. I've been posting lots on my blog, so check all that fun out- there's even some singing! WOOT!!!!

I finally got in with a psychiatrist and a counselor about all the anxiety and post partum, and the changes we've made are really helpful. But they are both in Sioux Falls, which requires a lot of driving, qhich of course eats up the teensy amounts of moola we do have. Ugh.

So, I'm working on a lot of guest blogs, articles, proposals, and FINALLY getting over myself and working on actually roughing out some more personal essays. I'm also forcing myself to walk the dog more, despite our shitty weather andsoon will be forcing myself back into my yoga regimen, reminding myself (uhhh you ALWAYS FEEL BETTER AFTER). How about you? I miss you gals!

xoxo-

Sara Rose

Locker Room Post

2010-02-24T21:10:00.001-05:00

Need solid wisdom from you lovely ladies! xoxo.

Waiting For pictures to Load

2010-02-22T21:08:00.000-05:00

ARGH!!! Writing an article right now and the server I have to send all my pics to is taking for-ev-er. SO, UPDATE.

Got some blogging, journaling, and four articles done last week, which I am pretty pleased about despite having an insanely busy week. Got Kiki's Valentine- THANK YOU!!!!

I didn't get a whole LOT done creatively and I really want to get started on some submission and query letters for different publications but TIME is such a huge issue. With Eva homeschooling due to Nolan losing his job, I have sooooo much less time. I may have to burn some midnight oil to get this done.

I GOT A NEW JOB TOO!!!! Woot! Sioux Falls is starting a regional publication of Midwestern Parenting and they want me on as a featured writer- two columns and a 1000+ feature per month! They launch in about 6 weeks and I'll keep you updated. Since we are in the slow process of moving up to Sioux Falls, I have been scouring nonstop for writing opportunities there and freelance/telecommute.

I still need to get better about yoga and walking and eating better. What an uphill battle. Goals for the Week
-Knitting- Finish two colors on blanket I am working on.
-Yoga and Walking. Period Amen.
-5 articles, 5 blogs.
-3 journal entries.

Love you all!

Sara Rose

Hey Gals!

2010-02-18T22:57:00.000-05:00

There's been some positive changes and some staying the same in life lately. I'll write more candidly in the locker room! Anyways, I've got loads of new articles up over at my Examiner Page, just waiting for you to read or comment on!

http://www.examiner.com/x-27935-Sioux-Falls-Rural-Lifestyle-Examiner

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY!!!!!

My blog is a year old! SO I posted a long blog that includes a video message and everything! Enjoy, hopefully. Leave comments, all that jazz!

Goals:
-GET. BACK. INTO. YOGA. (period, amen.)
-Get the dog out for more walks.
-Write an article a day, a query letter every 3 days, and a blog every other day.
-Help my husband find a job.
-Focus on my resolutions.
-Be here more often for all of you.
-Finish these two blankets I am knitting. NOW.

xoxox-

Sara Rose

New start

2010-02-10T06:47:00.000-05:00

Hi ladies!

It's been such a long time! However, I haven't stopped thinking of you and have been missing your posts in SWIM. We managed to catch something pretty special here and I hope we can all manage to joggle our busy lives and re-connect soon. For me, the fact I haven't been posting means my life has become WORK, WORK and MORE WORK, which is totally wrong and makes me feel down, exhausted and frustrated. I feel that now I've figured out what I want, LIFE doesn't let me go for it. Anyway, I've said ENOUGH to THAT, and I'm starting again with the same no-time but buckets of new energy and new ideas. I will certainly need all your support to make them SUSTAINABLE (this seems to be my problem), but I'll get there.

My new GOALS in general

1. Yoga REFLECTIVE practice (which includes journaling) daily.
2. Back to Morning Pages and Artist's Dates.
3. Creating new materials for my new two modules at university: Medical Spanish and Creative Writing in Spanish
4. Write proposal for Medical Spanish book.
5. Allocated time for reading.
6. Back to 'Medea', my novel (which now seems to take up a new life as a film script in collaboration with R)
7. Applicatin forms for funding for an MA next year (Applied Linguistics and Creative Writing).
8. Post in my soooo-abandoned personal blog.

Since it's Wednesday already, my OBJECTIVE THIS WEEK will be JUST to GET STARTED ON ALL THE ABOVE and learn to make space in my timetable for, actually, LIFE!!!!

I hope we can reconnect all soon.
Have a lovely end-of-week!

V.

Goals here, but check the Locker Room!

2010-02-01T11:30:00.002-05:00

Hello, sparkling SWIMmers, from chilly Cambridge UK where the temperature is near zero Celsius but the sunlight today looks like Spring.
The juicy post is actually on the Locker Room - it needs a little extra love and security. I'd love to hear your thoughts and your responses, because something just bubbled out of my fingertips onto the keyboard and for the first time, I couldn't just delete it. And you gals are the ones I want to share it with.

But my goals for the week are here:

*Finish revising Chapter 5 by Thursday
*Begin revising Chapter 6
*Finish drafting my interview outline by Wednesday
*Post M-W-F-Sun at Yogademia
*Run twice and move my asana at least three times
*Keep up the daily yoga practice off the mat - breathing, responding rather than reacting, yoking breath with intention and movement in all things as much as possible
*Reconnect with you!

Love from England,
K

Lets Start Over: Week 1 Goals

2010-02-01T05:32:00.000-05:00

It's been so long and I got so completely delusional in the last few months that really, it's time for me to clean the slate and get restarted here. So. Here we go. My New Years Resolutions are Gratitude, Wellness, and Appreciation. In my book, Gratitude and Appreciation are NOT the same things but rather entirely different ones. So my weekly goals need to include some time devoted to pursuit of those 3 things. With wellness, I'm not just talkingweight or whatever, I want better health, better immunity, better psyche, IWANTITALL!!! (Feeling very Veruca Salt right there.)

So. In devotion to GAW2010-
-Gratitude lists. I aim to post at least one a week either here or on my blog, but write personal ones at least 3 times a week.
-Tell my hubster thank you more often.
-Appreciate my time with the kiddos more.
-Get myself back into a daily yoga, meditation, and walk the dog routine.
-Be better about Weight Watchers. I slacked off soooooo badly.

As for writing, obviously I was slacking there too. Some of it had to with the fact that my laptop decided to go all psycho and die. Some of it was me going off the deep end. It's true, I kinda crashed and burned in January. Some of it is because I was lazy, lazy, lazy. So.

-Send out 4 proposal/query letters for articles in the next two weeks.
-Write 4 articles a week again for my Examiner Page.
-Get my examples done to submit for a new second Examiner Page.
-Write 2-3 blogs this week. BTW- my blog is newly private. I sent you all invites. If you lost yours or never got it, email me so I can resend you one!
-Get back to journaling. Even mini-sessions.

I've got a bunch of life stuff going on. We're going to move this summer, I now home school Eva Bean because Nolan lost his job in January, and really we've just got loose ends to pull together too. I'll be writing about all that more frequently in the Locker Room. In fact, I'm headed there now to post links to some of my last posts that would best update you all. Overall, I love and miss you gals. Let's get this thing going again!

Preparations Galore

2009-11-08T10:28:00.000-05:00

Darcy had a new bathroom put in this week. Rather than have him take time off work, I attempted to work at home with varying success due to the interruptions.

Recap of SWIM goals 1-7 November
*Begin each weekday morning with dissertation intro writing to re-establish the writing habit and draft at least 2000 words by Friday.
*Adapt my daily morning pages to something more akin to late afternoon/early evening journaling
     These didn't work for me at all. My brain is not firing fast enough when I wake up, especially now that it's still dark at 6 a.m. I need to be sharp and awake for this kind of conceptual writing, and waiting until the end of the day to journal didn't work either. 2k words only happened in the form of transcribing notes I had taken as preparation for this section while in the States.
*Complete and mail out the two job/postdoc applications due
      Managed one.
*Complete and mail AAH conference abstract
     Check, and managed one other as well.
*Begin tailoring interview presentation
     Only mentally. Does that count?
*Return to my regular M-W-F-Sun Yogademia posting schedule
*Comment on all my SWIMmers and their blogs!
*Practice yoga for at least an hour 3-4 times this week
*Run twice
     Not even close on any of these. One yoga, one run, no comments or posts.

So what the heck did I do this week? Major rewrite of my dissertation abstract and the attendant posting on the website, some other conference abstracts, dealt with the final details required to put the first issue of the journal I co-edit to bed, began charting a major new class that needed at least a plan on paper in preparation for my upcoming interview, tidied other class plan and syllabi, sorted some ideas and sources for my intro, and spent a bunch of time dealing with the bathroom.

Reward: Artist Date to see An Education at the independent cinema with a glass of wine.
Even though I didn't really meet my goals for the week, I did take myself to see An Education, minus the wine. Excellent all around: story, cast, acting, visuals, soundtrack. Definitely a must-see for this group.

SWIM Goals Nov. 9-15
*1 hour writing intro & 30 min revising cross-cultural paper every weekday
*Monday: fully check chapter sample & course plans to submit for interview; presentation
*Tuesday: Afternoon - S---- postdoc letter and app
*Wednesday: Revise postdoc plan for C---- and O----; presentation
*Thursday: Afternoon: presentation and interview prep
*Friday: R--- letter and app; presentation and interview prep
*Saturday: any final tidying in preparation for interview and presentation

Reward: Sunday trip to London with Darcy for Christmas shopping; cinnamon buns at Nordic Bakery, Melody Gardot show at Southbank Center

I'm back! I'm back!

2009-11-01T03:18:00.002-05:00

Cripes, it's been six weeks since I posted here. That's absurd. The past six weeks have been absurd, especially this last week. There's a rambling post up at the Locker Room about all this, and how it's seriously messing with me.

So, HELLO!!!!!!! I have missed all of you so much! If there was ever a group of ladies I would love to have over for tea or a glass of wine on a regular basis, you are it. I would have loved to swing through each of your cities while I was traveling in the States just to meet you for an hour in a café somewhere. Your good company and sage advice would have been so welcome.

Hello and welcome especially to Sara Rose - I'm sorry I haven't been around to welcome you before this, but I was working 18-hour days while in the States, hopping on a train or airplane to a new city every few days, and then on a computer-free week with my family and my guy. I'm still catching up on posts, but I'll be back in the regular comment-posting saddle starting today!

I'm just going to jump right into this week's goals, because I put the most important crazy background noise buzzing inside my head up in the Locker Room.

SWIM goals 1-7 November
*Begin each weekday morning with dissertation intro writing to re-establish the writing habit and draft at least 2000 words by Friday
*Adapt my daily morning pages to something more akin to late afternoon/early evening journaling
*Complete and mail out the two job/postdoc applications due
*Complete and mail AAH conference abstract
*Begin tailoring interview presentation
*Return to my regular M-W-F-Sun Yogademia posting schedule
*Comment on all my SWIMmers and their blogs!
*Practice yoga for at least an hour 3-4 times this week
*Run twice

Reward: Artist Date to see An Education at the independent cinema with a glass of wine

Where'd I go???

2009-10-31T11:24:00.000-04:00

Gosh, sorry its been so long, all. Happy Halloween all, first off. I hope this weekend is so much fun for all of us. How have you all been? I feel so bad that I've basically been out of commission for so long. To be truthful, I sort of lost track of everything so now it's time to get recharged and restarted, huh? Ok.

So. What happened? I got h1n1 of all things. It seems I've had this 3 month stretch of nonstop sickness, so my immune system must just really be exhausted. Anyways, I got h1n1 and I *thought* I would get over it relatively quickly. In fact, I seemed to be on the mend two weeks ago and life was going on in a merry little way. Suddenly, two Fridays ago, I woke up and was so.much.worse. I mean, could barely move, felt like I was dying worse. Nolan had to go into work that morning and I was here struggling to even deal with anything. Anyways. Nolan came home from work early and I got up to go to the bathroom to cough up a lung.

Next thing I know, I'm in the ER with Nolan and my friend Jordan (she's a nurse) and she tells me "You passed out. Nolan and I brought you here and I think you've got pneumonia." I spent the next 5 hours fading in and out of dozing during tests and lab work (luckily, the dr gave me morphine so I'd just sleep. The results? "Walking pneumonia", aka all the symptoms of it but not the actual virus or infection. Apparently h1n1 can either mimic the symptoms of pneumonia or develop into it. Thankfully, it was just mimicking the symptoms.

So, I've spent a week and a half resting, medicating, and slowly working on writing projects. I still have a wicked cough and lots of sinus congestion but each day I'm seemingly getting better. I really need to commit myself to restoring good health. I always sort of just get myself back to functioning but not actually doing "really" good, health wise. I need to do that. I need to focus on eating well, getting good sleep, taking my vitamins, meditating, and exercising so I can be strong and healthy but most of all productive.

Got any tips for me? Honestly, I'd love and appreciate any and all advice or suggestions. Isn't it kind of the chronic American lifestyle of just slugging through things but not really making the effort to make sure our wellness is a top priority? We're all so busy that we just run ourselves ragged but don't stop to take the time to make sure we can actually handle everything we're doing.

So. On to writing. I backed off of my blog to focus on doing a few things to get paid. In my last BIG blog, I wrote about deciding to just take the jump and commit to being a full time writer. I'm still finding my sea legs doing this but I'm so much happier than I was trying to apply myself to a job that wasn't going anywhere. The trouble comes in just learning to balance working from home with being a mom and a wife. So much easier said than done. But I've found a few ways to focus myself, one of which being . . . .

NaNoWriMo!!!! That's right. Go to nanowrimo.org and sign up to spend a month writing a 175 page novel. The goal is quantity, not quality for your writing. You spend a month writing furiously to produce a verrrrrry rough draft of a novel. The purpose? Get your creative juices flowing, get yourself trained to spend significant parts of your day really writing, and also to not shoot yourself in the foot by constantly self-editing. Sometimes writers block comes from the fact that we're always trying to make what we're writing "perfect" when really we just need to get it all out first, THEN edit.

I've been working on notes for a story for about a month now, so I'm going to use that as my NaNoWriMo project. I'm really excited to just apply myself to this and I'm really hoping that its going to help me overcome some of my own personal hurdles with writing. More on those later.

I got hired on by The Examiner and I'm writing 3-4 articles a week!!! Hurray!!! I also got a few freelance book review projects starting up, and am working slowly on developing two new blogs- one for my book birthday project and one devoted to political commentary that I'm doing with 4 other writers. When those are up and running, I'll let you know!

For this weeks goals, I'm going to try to keep it simpler. I need to really devote myself to the rhythm of meeting my daily nanowrimo word count so I don't fall behind and I get a running start. I need to get back to regular posts on my blog, articles and pieces for The Examiner and other jobs, and development on the other blogs. That sounds so overwhelming! Argh! We'll see how I do.

My other goal is to get back on track with Weight Watchers. Two weeks of being sick really got me unfocused, but since health and wellness is a priority . . .well time to pay the piper. Anyways, have a wickedly fun little evening! Talk to you all soon!

xoxo-
Sara Rose

Drriftwood: Week 7 Goals

2009-10-19T14:50:00.004-04:00

Hi all,

Hope everybody's doing great!

I've been busy, but decided I just have to post this week.

Week 5 (and 6) Update:

This week's goals (Oct 5-Oct 11)

Academic

1. When I get feedback on my paper, hopefully this week, work on it. Haven't gotten feedback yet.

Creative

1. Write a few scent related blog posts. Wrote 1. 1 more in the drafts.

2. Everyday, for atleast one hour before sleeping, either do WPs or read a book. Did this for a few days. Must make a more conscious effort.

3. WPs - atleast 10 mins 3 times a week. and half an hour on Sat, Sun. 1.5 hours - Not much. Though I did write some free form food related stuff

4. Morning Pages for work related stuff Again not really..:(

Week 7 goals (Week 19th - 25th)

Academic:

1. Work on a document/proposal explaining my experiment with pilot results/plots and rationale. This has to be more detailed than my previous one

2. Work on programming the new version of my experiment

3. Reading for a class I am sitting in. - 3 Chapters

Creative

1. Do some research for a short trip, I'll be making soon. Will post details in the locker room soon

2. Finish a post waiting in my drafts section

3. Finish reading Middlemarch/resume reading. I started this book ages ago (I am talking years..lol). Was loving it, but life caught up and I stopped reading it. Each time I begin at the beginning and then again stop reading for some reason or the other. This time I am going to finish it..lol. It is such a lovely book

4. Work on my novel a bit- have been neglecting it.

Have a great week everyone!

Tomato: Behind!!

2009-10-19T13:22:00.001-04:00

Hi friends!! I know i'm uber behind here, and yes I totally failed all the goals i posted last time. Eek! Am hoping to catch up on life in the next week or two so please be patient with moi. :)

xoxo!!!

Update Later, Read My Post

2009-10-17T12:39:00.001-04:00

Hi all!

I'll writ, update, and comment later today or tomorrow. But I wrote an important blog over at the chatterbox about a major life decision to focus solely on writing, and would love you to check it out.

http://chatterboxsara.blogspot.com/2009/10/little-secrets.html

xoxo

Sara Rose

Vienna again: Quick update

2009-10-15T11:47:00.002-04:00

Marking while listening good music is always better! I am actually enjoying it now or at least I'm more relaxed about it. Ay, life!
How is your creative week going?

Vienna: Too tired, too busy and fed up about it.

2009-10-15T09:50:00.002-04:00

Hi ladies!

I'm sorry I've sort of vanished from the SWIM scene but my life has been absolutely non-stop for the last two weeks. In a positive note, just to say the Yoga course is amazing. I am very excited about it. However, I am working like mad from Monday to Friday at uni (I hate grading, or I hate grading soooo many papers) and I was away for the weekend (my yoga course takes place on weekends) so I feel exhausted. I was about to write my goals or to see what I've accomplished this week and, really, I don't even know where to start. I hate working at such intensity that life becomes work, work, work. Since my teaching load is so heavy,I feel like a teaching machine with very little space for development. I'm tired and I don't particularly want to be here right now. Sitting by my desk, marking more coursework. No time for writing. I feel I'm getting nowhere with all what really matters in life. Anyway! I'll give myself time till Sunday to re-think my goals and I'll get back to you. I'll also try at some point to catch up with all your posts.
Have a nice weekend.
V.

Sara Rose: Oct 7- Oct 13 Goals

2009-10-07T21:12:00.001-04:00

Encore, bonsoir, mes beaux amis!

So last week, I got a bit accomplished, but it always seems I have this huge pile up of more/more/more I need to get done.  Where do I strike a balance with this?

One of the things I need to really work on in the next few weeks is carving out a writing/work schedule since I work from home now.

I have Owen home with me too and am trying to make the hard decision . . . do I have him at a babysitter a couple mornings a week while Eva is at preschool so I can work uninterrupted? Do I try to work when he sleeps and in the evenings, thus potentially cutting into family/couple/me time?

Also, since I work from home now, I feel more pressure (from myself mostly) to be the one entirely responsible for my household.  Since I am a bit of a neatnik/clean freak this presents the problem of cutting into writing/work time.  ARGH!  I need balance!

Ok so goals for this week.

1.  10-20 minutes character development & research for my short story.  It's rounding nicely into what I hope is going to be a good piece of work.

2.  Send of writing samples and resume for a few jobs I found, preferably by Friday afternoon.

3.  Rough drafts of first Weight Watchers articles by Sunday morning.

4.  Journal more!  Even if it's short entry journaling.

5.  I've got two new blogs I've been a part of developing and Im excited to get them rolled out.  Hopefully in the next two weeks.

6.  Finish editing the content for my mothers website.

7.  Get my butt to the gym.  Period. Amen.

8.  4 posts on the Chatterbox.

9.  Make my husband get my hard drive and flash drives.  Get to work on cookbook/recipes.  Refuse to do his laundry if he keeps forgetting.

Ok thats more than enough.  Good night all!  

Sara Rose

Update on my first week here! :o)

2009-10-07T21:01:00.000-04:00

Bon soir, mis amis!  Here's a recap on my goals last week and my progress with them.  I've still got lots of work to do but feel like I made a bit of progress last week.  It's a bit like chipping away at a proverbial iceberg sometimes.  Ahh well.

1.  I've embarked on a new project that I started the week of my birthday.  I decided to start reading a book a week until I've reached 1500 (yes 1500) books.  So far its going well but now I am faced with another conundrum-  Do I start a new blog for this project or just do posts on it ony Chatterbox Sara?  Thoughts, anyone?
    -I'm going to do a separate blog.  I've been struggling for awhile with really focusing the content of Chatterbox Sara to present a more cohesive block of writing.  I need to really separate out different areas of interest (more on this later) so I can get to the "meat" of what I want Chatterbox top be about.

2.  I've got a short story rolling around that I've been brainstorming for about a week on.  I want to do 10-20 minutes of brainstorming/character development/free writing to see where this story goes.
    -I did do about 10 minutes of brainstorming just about everyday this week.  My husband has been a great help in this.  He's also a writer and while he doesn't actively pursue it anymore, he wrote a number of plays.  Character development is one of his strong suits with writing so as part of my brainstorming, I talked over my story with him almost daily to get input on where I am going with this.  He's really helped me hone what I want the story to be.
3.  Catch up on blogging.  I've got 4 posts I've been meaning to get done.
    -Done for the most part.  A couple important posts I wanted to do are in notes on my computer still but thats  I'm really working on a more coherent and concise writing style for my more topic driven posts.
4.  Sign up for Weight Watchers.  Use it.  Consider if I want to blog about it in the locker room or on my own blog.
    -Signed up AND got an opportunity to write about the experience!  Still unsure as to whether I want to write about it on my blog or not, but Ill talk about it in the Locker Room for sure!
5.  Retrieve all my recipes and free writing on my cookbook from our external hard drive.  Edit 1-2 recipes/write ups daily.
    -Nolan has the hard drive and our flash drives at his office.  Grrrrrr.  He keeps forgetting to bring them home.  If this keeps up, I may "forget" to wash his boxers anymore.
6.  Pursue 3 new freelancing opportunities.
    -Done!  Got the job writing about my weight watchers journey, and submitted writing resumes/queries/samples 3 other places.  Also got a job reviewing three books for next month!  Woot!

Driftwood Week 5 goals

2009-10-05T13:33:00.004-04:00

Hi all,

Hoping you are all doing great. I am loving the chill in the air and the prospect of curling up in my bed, in the evenings, with a big fat book. Also, I think autumn and tea sort of 'go' together. Since, most of you are tea-lovers, I thought I'd ask if you could suggest some must-have/must-drink teas that I should try. I thought I'd compile a list of must-haves that I'd work through.

Now on to last week's goals:

Academic:

1. Write up the proposed changes to my experiment, the rationale behind the experiment etc. Yes! I also got some feedback at the end of last week. Lots of work ahead.
2. When I get feedback on my paper later this week, work on them. Haven't gotten feedback on this yet

Creative:

1. Taking a leaf out of Revisionista's book, I am going to start doing timed/untimed writing practice. Atleast 3 times a week for 10 mins and 1 hour each on the weekend. That is atleast 2.5 hours this week. I did WPs once this week. But for more than 10 mins, maybe 20.

2. Morning pages, to sort out work related ideas. Yes, on most of the weekdays.

3. Let the writing practice lead into 'novel' writing. Sort of. Wrote a page..Not sure if the WP led to the novel writing. Was in the mood to write one morning , so wrote..:)

Also wrote 1 blog post.

This week's goals (Oct 5-Oct 11)

Academic

1. When I get feedback on my paper, hopefully this week, work on it.

Creative

1. Write a few scent related blog posts

2. Everyday, for atleast one hour before sleeping, either do WPs or read a book. I have been trying to this, this weekend, and it feels soo much better than checking my email and twitter a million times before I sleep..lol..I noticed Carolyn had posted a similar goal..Good luck to us..:)

3. WPs - atleast 10 mins 3 times a week. and half an hour on Sat, Sun. 1.5 hours

4. Morning Pages for work related stuff

Have a great week ahead.

Tired Tomato

2009-10-05T13:03:00.001-04:00

Bonjour, fellow SWIM-ers! I am all kinds of tired today, but trying to stay as upbeat as possible. Also feeling really good about last week's SWIM goals...

1. Write 3 snail mail letters. Yup! Granted I did them last night but that counts, right? Nothing better than getting fun little somethings in the mail.

2. Write letter to myself to read when overwhelmed at work. Check! This was a great exercise prescribed to me by Jennifer. I did the same exercise back when I was painfully slow at work and needed to cheer myself up. After printing it (in cute font of course), I laminated it and decorated it with gorgeous fabric tape. Plan to do the same with Letter #2!

3. Practice nothing, then discover my truth. Admittedly I did not follow the nothing part as strictly as I should have, but the truth, oh my, the truth was all over the place! Read more about my experience here.

Now for this week's goals...

1. Respond to blog comments. I'm really bad about this (and it doesn't help that i'm terribly behind on blog reading as it is), and it's completely unacceptable. I've gotten such lovely comments, and i really want to make it a priority to respond so i'm making it a goal!

2. End my evenings with either journaling or reading a book. Absolutely NO laptop or TV watching when i'm about to go to sleep!

3. Pink Heels HW: includes fun activities like creating a life mandala and answering big picture journal questions. I promise to share a picture once I'm finished!

gussying up fall finale

2009-10-03T20:44:00.004-04:00

ladies aaannndd, well, ladies ;)

quickie review on my quickie week 7 goals:

work on city girl's guest blog post - holla yeah!! and i loved every second of it. if you missed it you can read it here.

focus on schooling - keeping up with assignments - yes but barely. when there is only 6 months of schooling there is a LOT to do in a short amount of time, which i'm sure you could imagine. which leads me into...

photo credit ici

i hate to say this, but i am gonna put my swim suit away for the season. this past week has felt as though i've been drowning. i do plan on coming back when the weather is warmer (aka when school and life in general has calmed down). i will miss you all terribly but if given a chance will definitely be checking in on my swim team and cheering you on from time to time. this has been such a fantastic lap while it lasted and no worries, i will definitely be back!

much love & hugs to all of my swim team!!

Vienna: Survived the first teaching week.

2009-10-03T10:59:00.006-04:00

Hello ladies,

Here I am. Sitting by my desk. Seeing my garden gaining life and going absolutely nuts with what it looks like a gigantic hurricane. What's going on today in the middle of the UK? Sunny spells, rain, grey clouds, clear blue sky, all-in-one type of weather. I even had to rescue the bin container from flying away and crashing against the neighbour's new car. Ayyyyyyyy!

Anyway, day ooooofffff! After the first week of teaching this feels like heaven. Up late (-ish, I can never sleep until late anymore...), Wild Swans, Zest magazine, new Autumn Mslexia, Yogi tea and cereal in bed (does that counts as an Artist's Date?). A bit of tidying up, 30-minute-yoga session and 25-minute-meditation, light lunch and down to do some work at my PC. Sorted out a few financial issues and now working on an application form for a grant for my Dru Yoga Teacher Training course, which starts next Saturday. Yes, yes! I made my mind up. I'm doing it. Universe help me!

Let's check my previous goals:

Last July I was accepted in a Yoga Teacher Training programme. I've been wondering for ages whether I should go ahead or not. Mainly only financial reasons hold me back. There is a grant I can apply for; however, there is nothing guaranteed and I am afraid of struggling with the payments. The Yoga Centre has been fantastic and offered me all sorts of alternatives to make my life easier. I need to make my mind up this week. So I will explore the issue in MPs and/or journaling. Yes, yes and yes!!!!! I'm doing the course and I am trying to apply for a grant. Starting next Saturday. Hooray!
Figure out how long it takes me to plan my lessons and grade students' work. This first week has been quite mad, as expected. Students constantly knocking on my office door (despite the signs directing them properly...) have slowed down my work rhythm. I teach 19 hours a week, which personally I find excessive, given that I also hold managerial and research responsibilities. Anyway, I suppose next week I'll get a clearer idea of my actual workload for this academic year.
Work out a fitness routine, both at home and in the gym. At home I've managed the usual twice-a-day yoga so I'm happy with that. I need to work out how to get to the gym for my studio classes and my cardio. The nearest gym is quite far away. Well, maybe not for drivers, but I rely on public transport and it takes me an hour to go and another to get back, so I'm finding it pretty difficult to get organised. I know, I know, I need to get a driving license, but for various reasons (mainly financial) that will have to wait (still) a bit more. I have a deal with R and he picks me up from the gym twice a week but now is away filming so I'll have to wait till he's back. Hate being dependent though.
4. Figure out WHEN is the best time for me to write creatively, squeeze it in my timetable and STICK TO IT. I might try to start with little writing every day to get into the routine (Revisionista style! Thanks for the idea!).5. Work out a time for blogging and reading blogs (I found it so difficult last term). FAIL. BIG TIME. This week I've had no time at all with the classes and I'm scared that is the way is going to be during term time, which I hate. I WANT TO WRITE. I cannot bear another year without a writing routine. When I come back from work I'm so so tired. I really cannot write at night, plus I need to get some decent sleep if I'm to get up at 5:30 am.

Well. And that's all for now. Overall it's been a positive week, even though I still need to figure out a few things, as you have read above. Hope you are enjoying your weekend. I'm really excited because R comes back tonight to spend Sunday together, which will be great. Miss him.

Loads of love,

City Girl Check-in

2009-10-01T11:56:00.000-04:00

Hi Ladies. This will be quick as I am on week 3 of work being really insane. Welcome to Sara Rose and I look forward to catching up on commenting soon.

Last week's goals:

1. journal at least 3 times, even if I go back to tiny journaling - YES
2. shoot for 1-2 yoga practices, at least 1 at home - YES in that I did two long practices, no in that both were at a studio.
3. daily tiny blogging and tie up all loose ends on almost-finished posts - YES for detox diet diaries but no for a couple of others I need to finish up.

My goals this week are actually going ok despite the insanity:

1. journal at least 3 times, even if I go back to tiny journaling
2. shoot for 1-2 yoga practices, at least 1 at home
3. daily tiny blogging and tie up all loose ends on almost-finished posts
4. collage time

Well, actually, they are semi-ok so far - I have tried to make it to a yoga class for 3 nights now, only to get home from work so late that doing a practice at home just wasn't an option if I was going to stick to my bedtime. But I have spent a bit of time collaging and journaling. Also, blogging has not suffered too much.

Good luck to everyone with everything you have to do.

Sara Rose: Sept 28- Oct 6 Goals

2009-09-30T07:58:00.000-04:00

More later on a few different topics I've got going around in my thousand mile a minute brain but for now let's start with some goals.

1. I've embarked on a new project that I started the week of my birthday. I wanted some way to give this birthday a bit of importance since we're so broke and I was soooooo due with Owen that we couldn't do a whole lot. I decided to start reading a book a week until I've reached 1500 (yes 1500) books. So far its going well but now I am faced with another conundrum- Do I start a new blog for this project or just do posts on it ony Chatterbox Sara? Thoughts, anyone?

2. I've got a short story rolling around that I've been brainstorming for about a week on. I want to do 10-20 minutes of brainstormiung/character development/free writing to see where this story goes.

3. Catch up on blogging. I've got 4 posts I've been meaning to get done.

4. Sign up for Weight Watchers. Use it. Consider if I want to blog about it in the locker room or on my own blog.

5. Retrieve all my recipes and free writing on my cookbook from our external hard drive. Edit 1-2 recipes/write ups daily.

6. Pursue 3 new freelancing opportunities.

Alright, thats more than plenty! Time for coffee!

xoxo-

Sara

An Introduction, I Presume?

2009-09-29T17:32:00.000-04:00

Well, hello! I'm new here. I'm all fluttery feeling right now. This is totally first day at a new school type jitters, sans my wearing strange 80's paraphernalia like a pair of high tops or bangs sprayed and tamped down with a gallon of Aqua Net. So I assume I need to tell you all about myself while you apply Lip Smackers and snap your gum, eh?

Here goes.

My name is Sara Rose, which I go by in real life. In the blogosphere I also go by Chatterbox Sara, The Chatterbox, and White Chrysanthemum (pen name sorta). I have guested on a few blogs and write for my own and several side projects. More on those later.

I live in Satan's Left Arm Pit, also known as Vermillion South Dakota. The easiest way to describe it is totally confusing and complex. We're in the middle of corn and soy fields on the Plains and we're a college-meets-farm-meets-trailer park sort of town. Thats what there is here- a university and its respective students, a lot of farms, and miles upon miles of trailers. We even live in one. Awesome, huh!

I never meant to end up here. See, my parents were the free wheeling hippie kids who happened to actually make money so we lived all sorts of places but basically ended up back here when I was about 12 going on 13. It was a strange sort of culture shock to come to South Dakota. People eat things like chislic, wear beer goggles to weddings, and rail about being a red state. Huzzah!

I'm not built for small town living for the most part. I prefer anonymity, I prefer to be seen in a crowd, I want culture, but there are aspects of rural living that do agree with me. I love the geography here, I really prefer being close to nature, etc., but there's only so many potluck dishes a gal can eat. Anyways, I ended up in Vermillion via an unlikely turn of events.

When I was 18 my dad killed himself. I basically spent a few years in college, in pageants, travelling Europe, and just avoiding myself. I met a guy, thought I was in looooooooove, and decided to "get it together" and follow him to school here. Well "getting it together" meant breaking up, start sleeping with a guy who was a loser and getting pregnant. Funny how that worked to actually make me get it together.

Baby Daddy and I decided he sholuld terminate his parental rights and contact with my daughter, Eva. She's amazing. She's like fire, in human form, really. Then I met my husband, we eloped, and have been happily at each others throats ever since. I just had my son, Owen, he's now 12 weeks old and he's already very opposite his sister in so many ways. In the meantime I got a perfectly useless degree in psychology and worked in an organization for developmentally disabled people as a glorified social worker.

That didn't last long. It's a high stress/quick burnout environment because you spend your days fighting the system for decent care for people and get told to "stick to procedure" and make them look good on paper. I decided to go back to school for nursing. My husband is finishing a masters for software design and I wanted a job I could take everywhere.

I've always been a writer. From a very young age, I realized I wanted to work writing into my life plan somehow. However, I had one of those evil fathers who enjoys destroying dreams so I backburnered that for a very long time. When I met my husband I decided to actively start writing again in bits and pieces. I blogged and journaled and have slowly been building up from there. This last summer, I realized that nursing would never be a career or a passion for me, just a j-o-b and that I was going to make myself miserable if I continued to head down that path.

There were lots of other factors behind this as well, but basically a few months ago, while on bed rest with being pregnant, I started sending out query letters, emails, ads, signing up for all sorts of networking for my blog, you name it. As I was in the thick of an existential pseudo-quarter-life crisis, suddenly I started hearing back from people . . . who wanted me to write for them, freelance, write on my own, etc. It was like a sign from God, honestly.

So I dumped nursing down the drain. And, here I am. I'm so glad to have found you! I have a special request too. Do you all have backlinks wiuth your own introductions, so that I may read them? I'm so happy to have found an environment where I can write, track my progress, assign myself some goals, and help other people do the same. This sort of community effort from other writers is exactly what I needed and I'm glad to be here.

Phew. There. I did it. Now did my scrunchie look ok? Tee hee!

xoxo-

Sara Rose

Driftwood Week 4 goals

2009-09-29T16:44:00.008-04:00

Hi all,

I am not going to dwell too much on last week's progress as I didn't do too much writing. I am going to focus instead, on what I accomplished and what I want to finish this week.
(Also can somebody tell me how to change the color of part of my text. I have tried for two weeks now, and can't seem to find the option anywhere..lol)

Academic:

1 Read work related papers, the whole of last week
2. Managed to do some brainstorming yesterday and came up with some proposed changes to my existing experiment

Creative:

1. Morning Pages, except for the weekend and Monday.
2. A paragraph of the 'story' which I am probably going to discard..boo.
3. Two food related blog posts

I didn't find time to excercise much though..:(

Week 4 Goals(29 Sep - Oct 4)- Going to keep this short and focussed..:)

Academic:

1. Write up the proposed changes to my experiment, the rationale behind the experiment etc.
2. When I get feedback on my paper later this week, work on them.

Creative:

1. Taking a leaf out of Revisionista's book, I am going to start doing timed/untimed writing practice. Atleast 3 times a week for 10 mins and 1 hour each on the weekend. That is atleast 2.5 hours this week

2. Morning pages, to sort out work related ideas

3. Let the writing practice lead into 'novel' writing.

The reason I am thinking of doing both MPs and WPs, is that I've been using MPs more to get more focussed for the day and sort out work related ideas etc. I want to use WPs for more creative writing. Does that make sense?

Have you explored the similarity/difference between the two?

Good luck with all your goals this week.

Lotsa love

Kiki: And the beat goes on

2009-09-29T07:23:00.000-04:00

By now, you all probably know that I did not get the job. (Boo! Hiss!) I'm putting my creative energy into my work/applications to move all that forward and regain a little bit of control.

Dudettes, the academic job search totally sucks. But I digress. Let's check in.

Goals 18 -27 September

*Finish postdoc app due 5 October (inc. research plan, class plan, writing sample, etc.)
Not so much. Good chunks of it are done, but not all of it.
*Complete draft of conference paper/presentation to be delivered 3 October
This, at least, has been completed. And not just the draft - the final thing.
*Work up practice "job talk" to receive feedback when I'm in the States
Not so much. But the room has been booked for 8 October, so I'm on the hook for it!
*Begin revising dissertation (I see this happening on the planes)
Yes, in the form of my writing sample for the postdoc apps.
*Try not to get worked up about not working when I'm attending my oldest friend's wedding
Here, I actually succeeded. It was a gorgeous wedding, and the bride was truly radiant.
*Three dailies: morning pages, yoga, and something creative - Tiny, if necessary
Haven't done any of these since Wednesday. Not even Tiny. I can't really explain why.
*Think positive about the job interview
Yes, well, I tried.

This week sees me in Boston, with a daytrip to Providence on Saturday for a conference. The nuttiness is firing on all cylinders. I leave today, and have meetings scheduled with everyone but my adviser WHO STILL HAS NOT RESPONDED FOR MY REQUESTS FOR A MEETING!!!!! There has to be a special level of Hell reserved specifically for AWOL Ph.D. advisers. Or at least some very bad karma. Plus, the stupid plane from England gave me contact dermatitis, which resulted in an infection and antibiotics. ARGH!!!!
-------------------
Dear Universe,

I appreciate that you've got my back. But the lessons of self-reliance that you're teaching me with an AWOL advisor (lesson: find your own professional development support) and economy-class rashes (lesson: bring your own pillow, or don't touch ANYTHING in coach) don't have to be quite so rough. If you could lighten up just a touch, that would be superb. There's a lot going on right now, and I could really use a wee bit more support.

Love,
Kiki
-----------------------------------

Goals 29 September - 4 October
*Write sample cover letter by Thursday 1 October
*Complete and mail postodoc app #1 by 2 October Friday
*Read and return comments on a paper by 2 October Friday
*Draft Job Talk and presentation for next Thursday
*Begin Edinburgh job application
*Ambush advisor - politely
*Write one morning page and do five minutes of yoga each day.

Tomato: Moving On

2009-09-28T16:04:00.002-04:00

Hello, my darling amies. After a whirlwind of emotions the past couple of weeks, I am finally starting to feel a bit settled again (although I'm in a TOTALLY different place than I was one week ago). We're all self-help junkies here, and even though I know that about myself, it's always amazing to actually see myself growing, maturing and moving on in life. That often translates into letting go, a notion that becomes increasingly transparent as I move through the different phases of my life. It's a journey, n'est ce pas? Must remember that.

And on that note, let's review last week's goals, shall we?

1. Continue journaling daily with gratitude lists. Work on adding "art" to my journal via stamps (i have TONS of rubber stamps), stickers, markers, collages, etc. (I've gotten uber lazy about this.) Check! I busted out my many rubber stamps and have had lots of fun using them, not just in my journal, but on snail mail and in my planner pad. I have so many fun crafty things that i often forget to use them. ;-)

2. Work on creating a vision and mission statement throughout this week (as in don't put it off til Saturday). Find inspiration in others' statements. Check! Wow this was really tough for me at first. In the end, I'm happy with what I created, but I have a feeling they will change in small ways or big ways. My assignment was to not only create them, but to express them creatively. Being a huge collager, I decided to use jumo size index cards and write my statement on one side and collage it on the other. This way I can keep them handy and portable and not just stuck on a wall. I guess I should share them, huh? ;-) (Sorry the pics are kind of small.)

My Mission: I strive to make the mundane sparkle and the everyday beautiful. Nurturing relationships, creative play, simple joys and unabashed enthusiasm for the color pink are the key ingredients to my happy life. Beige is BORING!

My Vision: To live simply and joyfully, wake each morning with excitement and feel gratitude each night, travel teh world, be a loving wife and mother, love every inch of my body, read and write daily, and constantly GROW.

3. Write locker room post CHECK! Merci beaucoup for all your touching comments. I really really really needed and appreciated them. *BIG HUG*

Moving on to this week's goals...

1. Send 3 people snail mail. I already sent oodles this past weekend, and it felt GREAT. I love making it extra special by throwing in some goodies, confetti, and decorating with stamps/stickers/glitter glue/whatever!

2. Write encouraging letter to myself to read when I'm overwhelmed at work. This is actually a Pink Heels assignment, but hey, if I make it a SWIM goal too then i'm BOUND to do it, right?

3. Practice nothing, then discover my truth. This is from The Joy Diet, and I think it's going to be hard for me. First, finding (and remembering) to do 15 min of nothing per day is tres difficult. Adding another component, truth, makes it even more challenging. I know there are oodles of my truths bubbling on the surface, waiting to break free.

That's all for moi - have a LOVELY week!!

Vienna: New beginning and little goals

2009-09-28T05:31:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone!

In 15 minutes I'll be teaching my first class this semester so I'll be quick. Everything now is so hectic! I know it will all settle down in a couple of weeks, though. I am a bit nervous but excited as well about this new beginning. There are many things I need to figure out during this week so I'm going to make them my writing goals:

1. Last July I was accepted in a Yoga Teacher Training programme. I've been wondering for ages whether I should go ahead or not. Mainly only financial reasons hold me back. There is a grant I can apply for; however, there is nothing guaranteed and I am afraid of struggling with the payments. The Yoga Centre has been fantastic and offered me all sorts of alternatives to make my life easier. I need to make my mind up this week. So I will explore the issue in MPs and/or journaling.

2. Figure out how long it takes me to plan my lessons and grade students' work.
3. Work out a fitness routine, both at home and in the gym.
4. Figure out WHEN is the best time for me to write creatively, squeeze it in my timetable and STICK TO IT. I might try to start with little writing every day to get into the routine (Revisionista style! Thanks for the idea!).
5. Work out a time for blogging and reading blogs (I found it so difficult last term).

And that's all for now. Just a few last words to let you know that I'm feeling so much better and things are still moving. Thanks for all your advice and for always been there.

Have a lovely week.
I'm heading to my first class now!

Alison - week 4

2009-09-27T10:38:00.002-04:00

My week has been filled with a cold (2nd one in 5 weeks so I am obviously run down) and also the little ones are full of cold and teething. So short of energy so I am glad that my goals were short for the week.

* 3 blog posts YES
* Plan return to work (and put info into diary) YES - had a meeting with the head of nursing and the dates are in my diary.
*Update blog roll (VERY out of date) NO - went to local Starbucks to work on this whilst the in-laws were baby-sitting and the local store does not have wifi! Way too fiddly to revise on my iPhone.

Again, simple goals for the week...

* 3 blog posts
* Update blog roll (will complete at home this time around!)
* Appointment with friend for meeting regarding abstract submission for a conference next year

Reward:- it is my birthday on Wednesday and I am hoping to get a digital SLR with a combination of birthday and my own money so some time spent "playing" with this next week-end would be perfect.

Loving the new photo on the header.... perfect and very autumnal.

gussying up week 6

2009-09-26T15:00:00.002-04:00

"what keeps a dock floating above water?" pier pressure

lame, yes, but do i care, no!! :)

ya know, with all of this swimming that i'm doing, i should be loosing some mondo weight but alas, i am not. haha let's revisit week 6 goals and outcomes:

week 6 goals:

try to forget about (yeah right!! ok minimize) the impact of my recent storm. yes, it is still rearing it's ugly head. i refuse to let it interfere with my fantabulous weekend!! i gotta say, i did pretty well at this one and i was surprised at myself and happy that i was able to do it so easily. there have been moments but overall things are looking a little better. thank you all for your kind words. hugs!!

work on a guest blog post that i have been asked to write (this made me incredibly happy!!) oh yes! i have done this and have been asked to do another guest post by miss city girl!! holla i'm so excited and honored to be guest posting :D

find some cute sailor terms so that i can use them in my posts to come :) and/or lame ones, um yes, i have that covered ;)

reward - went to a weekend retreat, went to the local wine & jazz festival, and indulged in a vinyasa yoga class tuesday.

week 7 goals:

work on city girl's guest blog post

focus on schooling - keeping up with assignments

i'm keeping my goals short, short this week for obvious reasons - i start class tuesday!! :D

photo credit ici

locker room

2009-09-25T13:14:00.001-04:00

hello ladies. i just posted in the locker room and fair warning, it's a LONG post so get your eye drops (or re-wetting drops) ready ;)

Tomato - Locker Room!

2009-09-22T17:05:00.001-04:00

I met one of my SWIM goals already - just posted in the Locker Room!

Revisionista: New Badge & Goals Sept 21-27

2009-09-22T00:04:00.006-04:00

I just created a new badge for our Fall SWIM.

This post will be uber short as I need to get to bed. But I'll look forward to commenting on all your doings Wednesday since that seems to be my blog posting/SWIM updating day.

So, last week was *crazy*~~lots of meetings, writing, students, etc etc etc. But I did manage to accomplish the following:

YES! (6hrs) *60 min of writing practice (10min/day) + 3hrs on Sat & Sun
YES! (12+ hours & 6pp of intro) *5 hrs of research book (aim for freewriting 5pp single spaced of intro)
D'oh!*Revise article & return to editors
Several Book Baths, but nothing planned*Artist Date: ???? (need to plan something yummy!)
Not enough *Play in my garden (try for: 2 blog posts, 2 Italian podcasts, & a book bath)

So this week will probably be equally crazy, especially since I have a stack of papers to hand back.

But I hope to do the following:

*60 min of writing practice (10min/day) + 2hrs on Fri, Sat, & Sun
*5 hrs of research book (aim for freewriting 5pp single spaced of intro)
*Revise article & return to editors
*Artist Date: candle shopping for the season & if I can swing it, lunch at a Victorian tea room in the next town over
*Play in my garden (try for: 2 blog posts, 2 Italian podcasts, & a book bath)

Bon nuit, cheries!

Driftwood: Week 2 Update

2009-09-21T15:27:00.006-04:00

Hi all!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

This week was not very productive, work-wise and writing-wise. On the other hand, I re-discovered a lot of music that I love, met an old friend, ate at a hole-in a wall Thai restaurant that served super-yummy food, cleaned the 'TV room' and vanity space. So, trying not to feel bad over stuff that hasn't been accomplished.

Week 2 Update:

1. Finish the paper today and submit it to my advisor. Today! Yes! (one of my few 'yeses' this week).
2. Resume working on my other experiment. Analyze data and collect some more. started reading some related stuff, but didn't accomplish much
3. Start outlining the dissertation proposal (related to 2) Nope!

4. Continue with Morning pages. I've decided to also use it for my academic work- to allow it to let me look at my research from different points of view and also think of my research creatively and not as if it was just 'work'. Yes- except on this weekend
5. Work a bit on the novel as outlined last week. No..:(..Actually I did write a few sentences, but that doesn't really count, does it?
6. Post on the blog once or twice. Yes- 3 times!
7. Incorporate exercise into my regular routine No- I really feel bad about this and need to figure how to do this
8. Start yoga again No- but will do so, once the new quarter starts

This week, I plan on being more focussed. Maybe waking up earlier in the morning and getting writing done, instead of going online

This week's goals:

Academic/Work related:

1. Finish a couple of chapters and a few papers connected to the new experiment. Analyze data based on that
2. Start thinking about the Dissertation proposal

Creative

1. Novel!!
2. Morning Pages
3. Blog posts

Other

1. Exercise!!!!! I would like to exercise atleast 3-4 times a week as well as do breathing exercises
2. I have been wanting learn French forever now. Will seriously think of how to take baby steps in that direction. Any suggestions?
3. Want to read the Upanishads. Might begin with isa Upanishad- I am curious about some of the older literature such as this.The bits I've accidentally come across, I love. So I need to read more.
4. I also want to resume Indian Classical Music classes. I've been trying to find a good teacher, but keep giving up. Will try again to find somebody to teach me (especially Hindustani Classical)

I know some of the above goals were not strictly writing goals, but thought I'd keep track of them here along with my writing goals.

Have a great week!!

Tomato is Back!

2009-09-21T13:22:00.002-04:00

I apologize for my brief hiatus last week. As most of you read my blog, I'm sure you know that it's due to an impending deadline for a project at work. Boo. I worked ALL weekend, and now I'm confident I'll make it. And that means I can enjoy The Rachel Zoe Project tonight! Ha. I'm obsessed...

Anyway, let me revisit my goals from way back when. I've been doing the 3-goal thang for awhile now and find that it's so much more manageable for me, esp. right now.

1. Journal daily with gratitude lists - YES! Maybe not daily daily, but most days. Gratitude lists really are genius.

2. Finish Pink Heels homework by Saturday - FAIL. I had to push back my session another week due to work. The homework I have is FUN (creating a vision statement and a mission statement and expressing each of them creatively in some capacity), but omg, kinda hard no?? Have any of you created a vision and/or mission statement??

3. Finish The Guernsay Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - YES! And oh my gosh, I was so surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The entire book consists of letters (which I thought I'd hate), and it's both light and heavy at the same time. I highly recommend it. (Sadly I was unable to attend the actual book club mtg. Boo.)

Now onto this week's goals...

1. Continue journaling daily with gratitude lists. Work on adding "art" to my journal via stamps (i have TONS of rubber stamps), stickers, markers, collages, etc. (I've gotten uber lazy about this.)

2. Work on creating a vision and mission statement throughout this week (as in don't put it off til Saturday). Find inspiration in others' statements.

3. Write locker room post. I had a really emotional and difficult weekend. This is normally the type of thing I'd blog about, but for privacy reasons, I cannot. That being said, I'm aching to get it off my chest and get some feedback. Voila the genius locker room! I'm SO glad we have this place to share such things in an intimate and private setting.

City Girl Check-in

2009-09-21T07:51:00.039-04:00

So this past week was kind of a disaster for a number of reasons.

1. Journal at least 3 times substantively, i.e. going beyond tinyjournaling (did that once Monday night, so only 2 times left for restof week). - Le Fail. Between work and visiting family and other completely unforeseen things, I was just glad to finish the week yesterday with some meals cooked for the week and a semi-successful home yoga practice.

2. Daily blogging, but with emphasis on tinyfying. Also Le Fail, though I have a bunch of tiny posts almost ready to go up, so yes to the tiny blogging, but I need to polish them up to hit publish.

3. Wrap up detox diet series in a way that is authentic but without disclosing things beyond my comfort level.- that's part of the 90% ready heap of blog posts. So, NO.

4. Focus some of my creativity time and energy towards a home yogapractice. Ideally, I would like to get back to where I was in2002/2003, i.e. pre health-problems and when I was practicing 5-6 timesa week for 75 to 90 minutes, but realistically, I would like to get tothe point of 1-2 classes at a studio and 1-2 home practices every week,at least 75 minutes in length. - YES - I did a long studio class on Monday last week, and a semi-successful home practice yesterday. I say semi-successful, because I tried doing a video on my laptop but ended up switching to a CD 15 minutes in.

5. Mull a locker room post - it is about carving out time to write. Also NO. Obviously I need to actually write this in light of the past week.

Oh, and my reward of collage time - no time for it with everything else that happened. But I did buy 100% dutch process hot cocoa (no sugar) aka Green & Black's Fair Trade Cocoa Powder. The naturopath okayed it - I am beyond excited {though I was fairly sure she would ok it, as the rice protein powder she recommended has a chocolate flavor, and she said what made it ok was that it was dutch process cocoa powder, minus all the fat that chocolate generally has}. Hot chocolate is my favorite winter drink so I am going to experiment with various non-dairy and non-soy milks and some agave. I got the reward more as an exercise to be gentle with myself rather than beat myself up for how the week turned out {yay for a small step in breaking life-long patterns}.

As for this coming week - work will be brutal, so I am making my goals smaller:

1. journal at least 3 times, even if I go back to tiny journaling
2. shoot for 1-2 yoga practices, at least 1 at home
3. daily tiny blogging and tie up all loose ends on almost-finished posts

And I am determined that my reward will be creative collaging time. Still working on the artist date and how to keep the two separate. Thank you for all your feedback on my question on the topic.

Alison week 3 - checking in!

2009-09-21T05:28:00.003-04:00

Checking in to review my goals from last week and put down my thoughts for this week:-

*3 posts regarding my trip to France (which was fantastic). YES
*Sign up for this travel writing workshop. I know that I will never be able to give up my full time job to pursue this ambition but it would be fun to develop this on the side. YES - starts Sept 28th
*Purchase and read a digital photography magazine as I am getting a digital SLR for my birthday this month (birthday money and additional money from my savings). YES (not read it yet!)
*Meeting with a friend/work colleague to work on a professional article which has already been accepted in a peer reviewed journal (based on some previous work that we have done). YES - awaiting editors comments
*Writing an abstract (with same person) for a conference in October 2010 in San Antonio, TX. NO - but a date is in our diary to do this!
*Catch up on google reader which is about to explode after holiday trip away from the computer. YES
*Pick up a copy of the book which I have 2 chapters in (launched on Friday). NO as the launch date has been put back but I did not realise as I am not in the office right now!

My uni friends visited so we had yummy food, shopping and some wine - the perfect reward!

My goals will be simple this week as I have a crazy week with another meeting re) return to work that I need to prep for.
* 3 blog posts
* Plan return to work (and put info into diary)
*Update blog roll (VERY out of date)

Reward - hubbie is out on Friday night so I will get some yummy food in and make a meal for one (with a dessert and a glass of wine!).

Hope every-one is well.

New locker room post

2009-09-18T20:07:00.001-04:00

Just posted on the locker room. Would love to hear your thoughts/feedback.

gussying up week 5

2009-09-18T12:28:00.004-04:00

week 5 - already!! my how times flies when you are swimming along. :) i am checking in early as i'll be away all weekend sans computer. hooray for disconnecting!

week 5 goals and outcome recap:

i am going through a bit of processing some negativity out of my life at the moment so morning pages/journaling is key here. i thought about posting on the locker room but haven't committed. i'm still torn. um, yeah, my negativity hit me head on so hard that i in fact couldn't write at all. i am going to put up a locker post about this later next week after i sort through some details. i'm afraid it's going to be a terribly long post so my apologies ahead of time.

since the tea trading fun is almost here, i plan on sending everyone who joined snail mail thank yous. now here is one thing i did and can be proud of! i got all of the snail mail thank yous mailed this morning in fact!

seriously getting back into a regular reiki practice (and i mean it this time!!) again, boo for melita. have you all ever heard of a psychic vampire before? neither had i until my nerdy boyfriend pointed this one out to me. i will go into details about this in the locker room post but this is exactly why i've been a wreck recently and why i didn't do my reiki practice.

image credit here. it's called "freeing myself" - i thought it to be well fitting!

recently the waters have been very choppy for me. i have sent some of you emails regarding the situation but some of you are still unaware. don't worry, you will learn about this after my locker room post.

week 6 goals:

try to forget about (yeah right!! ok minimize) the impact of my recent storm. yes, it is still rearing it's ugly head. i refuse to let it interfere with my fantabulous weekend!!

work on a guest blog post that i have been asked to write (this made me incredibly happy!!)

find some cute sailor terms so that i can use them in my posts to come :)

you all have a lovely weekend! i hope that all get your goals met in this week to come. i will let you know when i have posted my locker room post. it will take me a while to formulate it.

Kiki: Staying Grounded

2009-09-18T02:00:00.000-04:00

I've just caught up on all your posts for the last week in one fell swoop. SO FANTASTIC! Reading about goals, rewards, Artist Dates, hopes, fears, troubles, and triumphs all together makes me feel really connected to all of you. We should seriously start thinking about having some sort of get-together in the future. Kind of like a Hip Tranquil Chick Retreat, SWIMmer's style. Rent a big place somewhere, do some yoga together, drink lots of tea...I'm sensing this might take at least a year to sort out. But I can't help dreaming big on this one!

Here's what happened this week:
1) Spent way too much time preparing for a job interview
2) Rocked the interview
3) First facial in several years (good, but I think the aesthetician overdid the Vitamin A mask a little)

Here's what didn't happen this week:
1) daily morning pages - I missed at least two days
2) yoga - actually, no real exercise at all
3) writing the research plan for my postdoc applications
4) Tidying up a writing sample for the same applications

And next week I'm back in the States for a month, flying madly up and down the East Coast over the course of four weeks. Things are going to get wackier before they get calmer.

This always happens when I get busy: the "non-negotiable dailies" fall to the wayside, which leaves me guilty for neglecting them, angry that I "don't have time" to do them, and feeling unmoored and ungrounded. I'm determined not to let that happen this time.

Goals 18 -27 September
*Finish postdoc app due 5 October (inc. research plan, class plan, writing sample, etc.)
*Complete draft of conference paper/presentation to be delivered 3 October
*Work up practice "job talk" to receive feedback when I'm in the States
*Begin revising dissertation (I see this happening on the planes)
*Try not to get worked up about not working when I'm attending my oldest friend's wedding
*Three dailies: morning pages, yoga, and something creative - Tiny, if necessary
*Think positive about the job interview

Vienna: Moving

2009-09-17T12:33:00.009-04:00

Hi, everyone!

First of all just to say I don't have enough words to thank you for all your amazing support, advice, and well, for just being there fore me. It means the world. I absolutely love being part of this group. I was actually thinking, if we are still SWIMming in, let's say, a year or two, maybe we should organise a SWIMMERS CONFERENCE somewhere to meet each other. I would love to!

I will post the usual goal revision and setting here and I will also post a follow-up on the Swimmer's Locker room again. Just a short one, this time. The picture and title of the post refer to MOVEMENT. That's where I am right now. Moving. I read somewhere that suffering is being stuck. I only guess, the perfect medicine for suffering is then movement. I wrote a post in Ona explaining my little MOVES this week.

Last week's goals:

Give myself time to re-adapt at work and prepare for the new academic year. Yes! I have even written the Autumn term exams!!!
2. Yoga every day, twice. Yes! It has really helped so much. I feel so safe on the mat, and that'a a feeling I've tried to take with me to all areas of my life.
3. Breathing exercises. Magic! Even when it seems they are not working and you are wasting your time. You are not! Thanks to all your recommendations.
4. Journal writing + gratitude lists Yes! However irregular, short. Good tool to get rid of negativity.
5. Reading 'The Self on the Page', by Celia Hunt (A Creative Writing book for Personal Development). Yes! And I have used some of the exercises as inspiration in my new post in Writing in Spanish, my Spanish creative writing workshop, which seems to have more and more participants from all over the world. I love it!
6. Slowly get back into 'The Artist's Way' and both, MPs and Artist's Date. Ermmmmm... MPs have been mixed with journaling and all over the place, since the new academic year started. I didn't feel ready for the Artist's Way. I can see my main goal was to feel grounded again and, basically, to breath.
7. Re-assess my overall situation (financial, emotional, professional, artistic) through my Journal writing and re-plan the academic year in an accepting and self-supportive way. I suppose this is an ongoing issue. I'm still on it. I'm afraid I will have to say 'no' to some of my new academic year's plans. I'm still thinking the way around but I have managed to be supportive and understanding with myself since the opposite is not taking me anywhere.

I think I will wait a bit to post my next week's goals. Having missed a week I feel a bit mixed up with the time! I caught a cold aswell (ayyyyyy!) so maybe after the weekend I'll be able to think clearer. In a strange way I am enjoying this cold. I am enjoying taking care of myself.

Just in case you don't visit Ona, I'll leave you here with the same song I posted there. It's called MOVING and it has been 'The Song of the Summer' in Spain. It's half in Spanish and half in English'. It's really uplifting. I think you can enjoy it. Here it is: MOVING, by Macaco.

Loads of love to everyone.

Have a great and creative weekend.

City Girl Check-in

2009-09-16T17:29:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone - this will be quick as work has become completely insane for me. Last week's goal:

1. Finish up DDD Weeks 11 and 12 - almost. Week 11 is done but I have had trouble finishing Week 12 but I think tonight I will just clean up what I have and post it. My locker room post explains the why behind that.

2. Write locker room post on how much to reveal - yes, and thank you for the supportive feedback. It means so much to me.

3. Keep up the playfulness in the everyday, without buying more pens - actually, this went sort of well. It has been an intense few days at work, but I am fortunate in that I laugh every day about something. Husband's sense of humor really helps that one.

4. Tiny blogging - shooting for daily - so far, so good. I am still refining the concept and how it works for me - ie short, yet with substance

5. Not-so-tiny journaling - yes.

My reward ended up being going to shop for TranquiliT on Sunday instead of creative journaling. Yay for leggings on sale and a new tunic from the fall collection, but that makes me even more determined to keep a chunk of time open every weekend to do that.

Time really is the ultimate luxury, isn't it?

I wrote this week's goals on Monday:

1. Journal at least 3 times substantively, i.e. going beyond tiny journaling (did that once Monday night, so only 2 times left for rest of week).

2. Daily blogging, but with emphasis on tinyfying.

3. Wrap up detox diet series in a way that is authentic but without disclosing things beyond my comfort level.

4. Focus some of my creativity time and energy towards a home yoga practice. Ideally, I would like to get back to where I was in 2002/2003, i.e. pre health-problems and when I was practicing 5-6 times a week for 75 to 90 minutes, but realistically, I would like to get to the point of 1-2 classes at a studio and 1-2 home practices every week, at least 75 minutes in length.

5. Mull a locker room post - it is about carving out time to write.

Reward: creative journaling time this weekend.

Also, one last thought - I usually make my reward and my artist date the same thing - is that what you ladies do? I am starting to wonder if there is a benefit to keeping the two separate.

I just posted in the locker room...

2009-09-16T13:21:00.000-04:00

I just posted my big long post on how much to reveal when blogging in the locker room. I promise to come back later today to post my weekly post here.

Revisionista: Update & Goals Sept 14-20

2009-09-16T07:21:00.002-04:00

Bonjour mes amies!

So, the one thing I can't seem to keep up with now that the semester is in full effect is tweeting and blogging. I'll have to figure out a way to make more time for this. I think one problem might be that the fun silly stuff going in "real" life is connected to my uni job & friends, and since I'm trying to keep my blogging/noveling habit in the closet (for now), I've become a bit paranoid about what I post.

Anyways, I'm making progress on my research & creative writing. Let's see how I did last week:

YES! (4 hrs) *60 min of writing practice (10min/day)
YES! (9:30 hrs & 4.5pp) *3 hrs of research book (aim for freewriting 5pp single spaced of intro)
YES! (made mix cd + cover art for peep's dance party)*Artist Date: cozy evening in my reading corner with candles, tea, journal, & a stack of books
Not Enough *Play in my garden (this could include anything from planning my Italy/Paris adventure next summer, listening to Italian podcasts, and reading for fun to journaling, collaging, blogging)

This week I'd like to focus on doing a few more things for moi, such as blogging, reading, book bath, Artist Date, etc.

*60 min of writing practice (10min/day) + 3hrs on Sat & Sun
*5 hrs of research book (aim for freewriting 5pp single spaced of intro)
*Revise article & return to editors
*Artist Date: ???? (need to plan something yummy!)
*Play in my garden (try for: 2 blog posts, 2 Italian podcasts, & a book bath)

Hope everyone else is having a good week!

Alison - week 2 check in and goal setting

2009-09-14T07:19:00.002-04:00

My two weeks holiday has flown by and I am back checking in with my goals for the next week. I now have 12 weeks until I return to work (SOB!) and have just received my work-load for my return (which has doubled) and I can already feel the stress in my shoulders, my head is pounding and a knot forming in my stomach. This group and its support will take on an even greater significance in the next few months as I go through this transition period.

Right then.... goals for the week..

3 posts regarding my trip to France (which was fantastic).
Sign up for this travel writing workshop. I know that I will never be able to give up my full time job to pursue this ambition but it would be fun to develop this on the side.
Purchase and read a digital photography magazine as I am getting a digital SLR for my birthday this month (birthday money and additional money from my savings).
Meeting with a friend/work colleague to work on a professional article which has already been accepted in a peer reviewed journal (based on some previous work that we have done).
Writing an abstract (with same person) for a conference in October 2010 in San Antonio, TX. Am having a total undecided moment about this application as the twins will be 18 months then and unsure about leaving them (so unlike my "old" self that would travel alone with no issues). My hubbie would be looking after them and has been on a business trip to Geneva since they have been born and no-one seemed to think that odd but have mentioned my opportunity and have had that "bad mother" look from a few people so totally unsure on what to do - HELP!
Catch up on google reader which is about to explode after holiday trip away from the computer.
Pick up a copy of the book which I have 2 chapters in (launched on Friday) and show to any-one who will look (ha ha - I am joking at this part).

REWARD:- uni friends are visiting at the week-end so quality girl-friend time (couple of meals out whilst hubbie baby-sits. Possibly with a few glasses of sparkly stuff).

Sorry if I have gone a little off topic but I am trying to give you some background as to where I am!

This was initially posted in Locker Room - have now deleted from there (sorry) and reposted here....

Driftwood: Week 1 Update

2009-09-13T13:50:00.008-04:00

Hi all!

Thank you for the wonderful welcome.

This is going to be a short post as I am running slightly behind on my last week's goals.

Last week's Update

Academic Writing:

1. Rewrite the Results sections, with updated figures - Yes!
2. Add the Discussion/Conclusion section- Almost but not quite..:(
3. Read a couple more papers which will contribute to the building up of the discussion section- Sort of! have been re-reading parts of some papers

I am not thaat pleased with the progress as I wanted to finish most of the paper over the labor day weekend, but I wasn't feeling too well on one of those days (Excuses! Excuses!) so that ate up a little bit of my time.

Creative Writing:

1. Morning Pages- Yes! Everyday- though not always in the morning. Sometimes in the afternoon/evening, but mostly before I start my academic writing. It works really great as a focusing tool-almost like meditation
2. Work on the novel- Nope! But that was inevitable as I needed to finish the academic paper first
3.Post on the blog, once or twice- Yes! Twice!

Also, I had several artist dates last weekend- went to several Barnes and Noble stores-leafed through books. Quite enjoyable. Also decorated a composition notebook to use as my 'morning pages' book and had a lot of fun doing that as well.

This week's goals

Academic:

1. Finish the paper today and submit it to my advisor. Today! (I am at Barnes and Nobles trying to finish it. That way, I don't have to wander too far if I want a fun artist date-like break..:)
2. Resume working on my other experiment. Analyze data and collect some more.
3. Start outlining the dissertation proposal (related to 2)

Creative
1. Continue with Morning pages. I've decided to also use it for my academic work- to allow it to let me look at my research from different points of view and also think of my research creatively and not as if it was just 'work'.
2. Work a bit on the novel as outlined last week.
3. Post on the blog once or twice.

Other:

1. Incorporate exercise into my regular routine
2. Start yoga again

Artist Date ideas: I am trying to carry out a lot of my 'house duties' positively. An example is to turn cooking into an artist's date. This isn't difficult as I enjoy cooking, but it is easy for anything to become a chore. To make things interesting and to also ensure I get my veggies, I have been trying to buy a new-to-me veggie every week from the farmer's market.

Rewards: Not sure I really deserve one- but I plan on getting a blank moleskine book and a book on green cleaning that I've wanted for a while

This didn't end up being a short post after all..:)

Good luck to every one in the coming week.

gussying up week 4

2009-09-12T21:30:00.001-04:00

hello lovely swimmers!

week 4 was good for me. i got a lot accomplished and got a lot of rewards along the way :) cue the recap...
-did paperwork for my massage therapy program - check!
-doctors appointment - check!
-regular blogging - check!
-morning pages - check!
-regular reiki practice - fail!
-read massage therapy text - check!
fun stuff:
-seeing wheeling symphony orchestra - check!
-thai massage - chiggity check!
-celebrate 4 years with ryan - chiggity check!

rainbow over the hills of morgantown. photo by moi

week 5 goals:

it feels like my goals are the same week after week. so this week i'm gonna cut them a little short:

i am going through a bit of processing some negativity out of my life at the moment so morning pages/journaling is key here. i thought about posting on the locker room but haven't committed. i'm still torn.

since the tea trading fun is almost here, i plan on sending everyone who joined snail mail thank yous.

seriously getting back into a regular reiki practice (and i mean it this time!!)

Vienna: almost drowning and learning to SWIM again.

2009-09-09T13:53:00.006-04:00

Hey, everyone!

It's been one week since I came back home and it has been a pretty intense (and not too good) week. To start with, my laptop CRASHED with loads of data in (I had backed up some but not everything), including my portfolio + MA application form + most of my summer writing+ my Spain pictures. Well, you know exactly how I felt. Anyway, there have been other things that I'm going to write about in the SWIMmer's Locker Room. Please, join me there.

For several reasons my goals for this week have been tiny and basic. They are:

1. Give myself time to re-adapt at work and prepare for the new academic year.

2. Yoga every day, twice.

3. Breathing exercises.

4. Journal writing + gratitude lists

5. Reading 'The Self on the Page', by Celia Hunt (A Creative Writing book for Personal Development).

6. Slowly get back into 'The Artist's Way' and both, MPs and Artist's Date.

7. Re-assess my overall situation (financial, emotional, professional, artistic) through my Journal writing and re-plan the academic year in an accepting and self-supportive way.

And that's all for now. I'm determined to SWIM again and overcome these unexpected difficulties in the journey. I leave you with another picture I took in Nakpaktós, in Greece.

See you all at the end of the week!

Besos,

Tomato: Week 12

2009-09-08T14:08:00.002-04:00

Bonjour, fellow SWIMers! I hope you had a lovely long weekend. As for moi, I had a divine time in Canada and got some much-needed quiet and rest. Needless to say, I did not get any work work done while I was there. But it was kind of nice to just say, "It's okay. I'll get to it when I return to Austin." And that's just what I've done. As such, this week and this weekend in particular are going to be very work-intensive. I've already scheduled my 90-minute deep tissue massage (despite not meeting my SWIM goals from last week..)!

Speaking of last week's goals, I had 3:

1. Journal daily with gratitude lists - FAIL. I did journal, but failed to make any gratitude lists... oops!

2. Turn trip to Vancouver into one giant Artist Date. Take oodles of pics, write a lot, enjoy the scenery, and enjoy yourself even while working (I'm going to try and find a fun coffeeshop w/ free wifi so I can work AND indulge!) - Success! My trip was a huge artist date indeed, and despite the rainy weather, I had a great time exploring the city. Look out for a big post all about it on my blog later this week.

3. Respond to reader questions on blog - Check!

As for my Week 12 Goals, I'm keeping them to trois as well.

1) Journal daily with gratitude lists (FOR REAL this time!)

2) Complete Pink Heels homework by Saturday (my hw this week is kinda hard and tiresome, and i kinda want to put it off until forever...)

3) Finish reading The Guernsay Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (it's my book club book, and i started it in Vancouver and just adore it!).

REWARD: None b/c I already gave myself a somewhat undeserved reward this weekend. ;-)

City Girl Check-in

2009-09-08T08:07:00.002-04:00

Hi Ladies - I hope everyone is doing well. My week was successful in goals 3-5 but less so in the first two goals.

1. write up Weeks 11 and 12 of Detox Diet Diaries - Le fail - well, not completely. I have some of those posts written up, and will finish them up this week. Working on them just solidified for me why I need to take a break writing about the diet. I am SO sick of it and writing about it just enhances that feeling.

2. write 1 locker room post to answer Elle's question of how I decide how much to discuss on a blog and also give some background as to why 12 weeks of blogging on my detox diet is enough for now. Ok, that was truly le fail. Moving it to this week's to-do's. Part of the issue is really deciding how much I want to put out there.

3. find more playfulness in the every day - unsurprisingly, I found this much easier to do by completely neglecting being on my laptop most of the weekend. Hence 1 not happening. Oh and a pen-purchasing spree also helped.

4. tinify blogging. This was my largest goal this week, and the one I found the most rewarding. It really forced me to focus on snapshots of things - ie my green smoothie turning brown, seeing hearts around Washington, DC and consciously forcing myself to just write a little paragraph to go with the pictures, and making my listmania posts tinier too. I am actually really enjoying working with this tinier blogging concept. My concern, however, is not turning the blog into eye-candy. I want to keep some substance, despite the tinifying.

5. journaling, which has been way too tiny lately. This was successful too, without being tiny.

One thing SWIM is really teaching me is that goals and needs really do ebb and flow - I initially joined SWIM really to focus on taking my blogging to a more frequent flowing level, complete with long thoughtful posts, but then realized that I cannot do that all the time, and needed to tinify that while growing other parts of my writing.

Goals for this week:

1. Finish up DDD Weeks 11 and 12

2. Write locker room post on how much to reveal

3. Keep up the playfulness in the everyday, without buying more pens

4. Tiny blogging - shooting for daily

5. Not-so-tiny journaling

As for rewards, Journal Bliss is lovely - I spent my creative time reading that and other creative journaling books I own, and did not do much creating myself, but that's ok. This week's reward is more time with my creative journaling books and actually journaling with colors and paints.

Revisionista: Update & Goals Sept 7-13

2009-09-07T09:01:00.002-04:00

Bonjour Mes Amies!

Welcome to our new swimmer, Driftwood! And welcome back to Kiki!! (Missed you!)

Before I dive into my update, I wanted to check on some of our other SWIMmers who I haven't seen too much of lately. Just want to make sure no one's lost or stranded ;)

I can't believe we're already in the second week of September. Overall, things are going pretty well at school. I'm really liking my job this year. In addition to getting to know my students, there have been all sorts of happy, silly distractions like agreeing to lead a book club discussion on the zombified adaptation of Pride & Prejudice for the undergrads, snarking at the annual welcome back parade with dept peeps, & making a mix cd for a dance party to celebrate the publication of a peep's new book. That said, I must make research the priority this week so I can finish this book and keep my job.

I feel like the fiction writing is coming along pretty well, especially since I picked up a few helpful hints from Driftwood's recent comments on my blog. But I'm definitely beginning to tread water with the Research Book Introduction.

So, let's see how I did last week:

YES! (6 hrs) *60 min of writing practice (10min/day)
YES! (5 hrs)*3 hrs of research book (let's see if counting hours will lead to increase in pages written)
YES! (looked but didn't find any shoes I liked)*Artist Date: might go shoe shopping later today if it's not raining when I get out of class; need to make a list of some other artist dates that don't cost any money (must start saving for European adventure next summer!)
YES! (blog post, made vision page for week, read for fun, book bath) *Play in my garden (this could include anything from planning my Italy/Paris adventure next summer, listening to Italian podcasts, and reading for fun to journaling, collaging, blogging)

Here's what I'm hoping to do this week:

*60 min of writing practice (10min/day)
*3 hrs of research book (aim for freewriting 5pp single spaced of intro)
*Artist Date: cozy evening in my reading corner with candles, tea, journal, & a stack of books
*Play in my garden (this could include anything from planning my Italy/Paris adventure next summer, listening to Italian podcasts, and reading for fun to journaling, collaging, blogging)

Overall I think my TINY goals are working, especially for the fiction writing. But I might need to amp up the research goals so I actually feel like I'm making progress.

Hope y'all have a lovely week. I'm about to clear off my desk and dive back into this intro for Le Rsch Book!

Kiki: Waving, not drowning

2009-09-07T01:44:00.000-04:00

Oh, ladies.

It's been two weeks since I've been SWIMming. Since coming back from Scotland, things have just been completely nutso. Family in town, then I got sick, had to send in a conference paper, working on my CV, drafting class plans and syllabi for job and postdoc applications, and set up my own professional website for those apps and personal branding.

Even my morning pages have been nothing but professional stuff these days. Plus, I've been back on my computer all the time again. Well, when I haven't been sleeping, which has been a lot, even though Stress-Induced Whirling Brain is still waking me up before 5:15 every morning. This week I'm also giving a conference paper, back up in Scotland. Can you feel it? Can you feel the anxiety?

I'm going back to the timers. It's too easy to spend too much time on perfection, and there are lots of other things that need to happen.

I'm working through your posts, but it's going to take a little bit of time - thank you to all of you for your patience. September and October are going to be a supremely nutty months for me with all the applications and work-related writing that needs to go out. And welcome to Driftwood! Thanks for all your comments at Yogademia recently :-)

Writing Goals September 7-13
*Spend maximum 2 hours each to finish job application & conference presentation due Wednesday
*Keep my Morning Pages at minimum 2 pages each morning rather than succumbing to work.
*Write at least 1 post for my new professional site (I'll divulge either by e-mail or at the Locker Room)
*Draft two class plans for job and postdoc apps
*Draft research proposal for postdoc apps
*Deliver a kickass presentation and paper at St. Andrews on Saturday morning
*Do some yoga and something creative every day, without exception, even if only a Tiny practice.

Reward: Sunday morning Artist Date in Scotland, with longhand fun writing and lots of photos
(Can I just say how awesome it is to be able to write "have an Artist Date in [another country]"?

Driftwood: Starting to Swim

2009-09-05T15:55:00.003-04:00

When I start writing something, especially online, I wonder if the real ‘me’ is coming through. However, since there are a million ‘mes’ sitting in my head, it is often difficult to say. (Million is an exaggeration- there are probably five). I am at once painfully shy as well as outspoken, an introvert yet yearn for contact, once in a while, with kindred spirits. It may be obvious, but today, the ‘me’ is all happy and jumpy. (I would be happier (and jumpier) if it weren’t so darned hot here in Southern California. I swear, I feel like running to the nearest snow capped mountain and dipping my face in the snow). Anyway, I digress.

One of the reasons I am happy/excited is joining SWIM. I am loving the thought of having a space where I can outline my writing tasks, and check weekly whether I’m meeting my goals. I love making lists, but I’d like to make sure that I am actually checking off tasks on my list, rather than making the same list over and over, as I often end up doing.I love the self imposed accountability that joining this group brings. I have to thank City girl as I wouldn’t have learnt of SWIM if she hadn’t mentioned it on her blog. I also have to thank Revisionista (who I found through City Girl’s blog ) on who’s blog I rediscovered SWIM. It suddenly struck me that this is the group I need to join and I’ll tell you why.

I am a 3rd year PhD Student (this is the beginning of my 4th year, actually), with a paper whose first draft is almost but not quite done and whose dissertation proposal needs to be written. Also, I am working on a couple of personal, creative projects. One is a story/novel type thing that is happening , which makes me infinitely happy, but which isn’t progressing all too quickly. Another is my ‘new blog’ for which I have a couple of ‘weekly series’ ideas that are still at the conception stage. Of course, my priority right now is my academic writing followed by the story thing. I would like to post regularly on my blog without it taking over my life.

It is hot and I’m definitely looking forward to nice, long, refreshing SWIM (have all the SWIM pun variations been exhausted?)
Thank you all!!

Before I forget, my goals for this week (starting tomorrow?..☺)

Academic Writing:

1. Rewrite the Results sections, with updated figures
2. Add the Discussion/Conclusion section
3. Read a couple more papers which will contribute to the building up of the discussion section

Creative Writing:

1. Do Morning pages/ timed stream of consciousness writing
2. Work on the novel but start rewriting from the beginning, in sequence to see how it goes (I’ve been writing mostly out of sequence, so far). I’d also like to do some rewrites long-hand just to see whether that gets me any place different. It usually does.

One of the reasons , my novel has been going slowly, is because I’ve been treating creative writing as a sort of Artist’s date..While that is fun, I probably need to move faster than that, if I ever intend to finish it. [ By the way, I only realized the origin of the words ‘Artist’s Date’ yesterday and promptly went to Barnes and Nobles to browse through Cameron’s ‘Artist’s Way’).

3. Post on the blog once or twice

And here’s a fun thing to try. I did this long ago and found the results interesting.
Try writing (either your morning pages or any creative writing) with your non- dominant hand. Is your thought process still the same?
Just as writing long-hand vs. Typing seems to access different stuff, writing with the ‘wrong hand’ just might. It might not- but there is no harm in trying..lol

Ok, since this is only my very first post, I had better stop now and save some for later.

P.S Does this post count as morning pages?
P.P.S What are your favorite journals and pens?

gussying up week 3

2009-09-05T12:42:00.006-04:00

happy labor day weekend to you all. i am writing this from charleston, west virgina having fun on a mini vacation with family and friends.

one of my favorite streets in charleston. photo by moi

recap and outcome of week 3 goals:
- continue 3 posts on gussying up the tuttle & 1 post for my morgantown musings - yes, i actually got 8 posts on gussying up the tuttle and 5 posts on my morgantown musings with 2 morgantown photo ops.
- spend some time collecting my thoughts regarding my future as a massage therapist (start a notebook/file with thoughts and ideas) - yes, i wrote about this experience here
- morning pages if necessary - yes, i did get in some morning pages but not everyday.
- practice reiki on myself everyday and journaling about my experiences - mostly, i didn't do it everyday since i've been visiting with family and friends.

my reward: i bought a couple of massage magazines.

week 4:
i actually have more rewards set out this week than goals. i plan on seeing the wheeling symphony orchestra at the local amphitheater monday. i'm getting a thai massage on thursday. ryan and i celebrate our 4 year anniversary on friday.

i do have to stop by the morgantown beauty college to do some paperwork and a doctors appointment so it's not going to be all fun and games.

i plan on keeping up with my regular blogging, morning pages and getting back into a regular reiki practice. i also plan on continuing to reading through my massage therapy textbook to prep me for my classes.

i hope you all have a fantastic week. hugs!!

City Girl Check-in

2009-09-01T08:44:00.003-04:00

Hi ladies - I recapped my goals in my last post, so just a quick post with this week's goals:

1. write up Weeks 11 and 12 of Detox Diet Diaries and then take a break from writing about it. I will explain more about that decision in the SWIM locker room which brings me to ....

2. write 1 locker room post to answer Elle's question of how I decide how much to discuss on a blog and also give some background as to why 12 weeks of blogging on my detox diet is enough for now.

3. find more playfulness in the every day - August ended up being an awful serious month. and frankly, so did April, May, June and July (a lot of it having to do with health stuff). There was also an awful lot of "I have to sleep and work and cook for this damn diet and make sure I blog, so laundry is not getting folded and journaling is going to be very tiny" and I am kind of sick of that, so I think this week and the whole month is going to be more living (including folding laundry, as not playful as that may sound) and less blogging. Which brings me to this week's biggest goal:

4. tinify blogging. I just had an epiphany yesterday - less blogging does not necessarily equal fewer blog posts. But, let's face it, I seem to like long blog posts. So my challenge is to tinify some and see how that feels, as opposed to cutting back completely on frequency. Like Kiki, I have been feeling more shackled to the computer this past month. I don't know how much I want to go back to my old approach of lots of backup posts, versus just a handful, and how I want to do this, which is why I am considering tinier frequent blogging rather than less frequent blogging. We'll see what I come up with.

5. journaling, which has been way too tiny lately.

Reward: Journal Bliss book and more time to play with my fun arts supplies.

Revisionista: Update & Goals Sept 1-6

2009-09-01T08:40:00.003-04:00

Taking a few minutes before I head off to class to post my goals for the week.

TINY goals are working well. I'm getting loads of fiction writing done but must make sure I'm also giving time to the Research Book.

Now that school's back in session, I'm seeing that I may have to crank up the writing seduction for the research book as that's the one thing I don't automatically want to sit down and do. And I might need to start writing away from home for a while until I get back into a routine. Still aiming for a complete draft of the book by September 21. So mark your calendars! (I need y'all to hold me to this since I mainly just need to write the intro and add some stuff to CH 5).

So here's how I did last week:

YES! (6 hrs!)*60 min of writing practice (10min/day)
D'oh! (1 pg) *Freewrite 5pp of rsch book intro
YES! (No shoe shopping or matinee, but lots of fiction writing & Mad Men)*Artist date: shoe shopping & matinee next Saturday
YES! (read for fun, 2 blog posts, made my vision page for the week in my planner) *Play in my garden (this could include anything from planning my Italy/Paris adventure next summer, listening to Italian podcasts, and reading for fun to journaling, collaging, blogging)

So this week, I need to increase the time I'm spending on the Research Book, which means that I might need to go out to a cafe on Wed and Fri morning to make sure that I write instead of lying about the house dreaming up stories.

*60 min of writing practice (10min/day)
*3 hrs of research book (let's see if counting hours will lead to increase in pages written)
*Artist Date: might go shoe shopping later today if it's not raining when I get out of class; need to make a list of some other artist dates that don't cost any money (must start saving for European adventure next summer!)
*Play in my garden (this could include anything from planning my Italy/Paris adventure next summer, listening to Italian podcasts, and reading for fun to journaling, collaging, blogging)

In terms of academic new year's resolutions (as posted by Kiki on Yogademia this morning), I have only 1: submit my research book to the publisher by April 1 while maintaining some of the balance and creativity I experienced this summer.

Hope you're all having a lovely 1st week of September!

Tomato: Week 11

2009-08-31T12:14:00.002-04:00

Last week I focused on the whole ME concept. This is still an ongoing struggle, particularly as work gets busier and busier. This week is a short one at work for moi because I'm headed to Vancouver on Thurs thru Monday for my cousin's wedding. I am BEYOND excited, but also nervous b/c I have a LOT of work to do (yes, even while I'm there). I hope to balance play and work and not be stressed out the whole time!

Anyhoo, I did OK with last week's goals...

1. Keep my Friday nights sacred, and say no when you have to. And DON'T feel bad about it! - Check! Although the real challenge will be doing this from here on out.

2. Re-implement the 11 p.m. lights out rule, and set wake-up time to 7:30 a.m. (will be earlier next week if this week goes well). Give myself at least 15 minutes to do morning pages. Fail. I was good last night and went to bed at 10:30 - it was divine and so much easier to wake up this morning. Must do better...

3. Replace evening laptop time with book time. It's so easy to drag my laptop into bed with me, but I don't think it does me any good. And since I'm on a computer ALL day at work, it would be nice to indulge in my 20+ books instead of indulging in the internet. I did pretty well with this last week, and I'm going to continue. I love reading, after all, and I have beaucoup de livres to get through!!

WEEK 10 GOALS:

1. Journal daily, including making Gratitude Lists

2. Turn trip to Vancouver into one giant Artist Date. Take oodles of pics, write a lot, enjoy the scenery, and enjoy yourself even while working (I'm going to try and find a fun coffeeshop w/ free wifi so I can work AND indulge!)

3. Be better at responding to reader questions on my blog (I'm really bad about this!)

REWARD: 90 minute massage post-trip!

Vienna: Back in Barcelona for my last day of holidays.

2009-08-31T05:41:00.004-04:00

I am back in Barcelona now, quickly writing from my sister's computer again. I first sat down with the intention of posting a summary of all my thoughts and (good) writing intentions for this new academic year. A summary of the struggles and reflective moments I've experienced all trhoughout my journey. However, I feel like I need to digest loads of things. I need to sit down with my own thoughts, write them down, think about them, put them into the right order. Again, make some clear space in my mind and my life. Understand. If I've missed one think during these days, it has been silence. For reasons I will later explain, I haven't been able to have one minute just for myself. There have been mistakes but also, new ways to cope with the consequences and some 'never again' situations. Live and learn, I suppose. Thus, at the moment I'll leave you with one of my pictures and I'll get back to you once I'm back in the UK. The picture shows one of the beaches in Nafpaktós in Greece (previously named 'Lepanto' by the Venecians and famous for its battle in 1571). Here on this chairs facing the Corinthian see I used to have my breakfast of Frappé (Greek iced coffee) every morning while we stayed in the town.

Thank you very much for your supportive comments. It has been great knowing that, in the distance, I still belonged to this fantastic SWIMmers team.

City Girl Check-in

2009-08-30T19:27:00.000-04:00

This week was a complete fail in terms of me posting here. My apologies - early in the week I was so focused on traveling and Wednesday I was so focused on staying away from the computer and having more of a different-paced day, that next thing I knew it was Thursday.

Now it's Sunday, so hopefully you will forgive me. Taking a look at goals from last week (ending August 23):

1. tiny journaling every day of the trip - some, but not enough.

2. blog posts up until Sunday {will likely post Monday retroactively when I am back on Tuesday unless I have good Beauty Monday inspiration this week} - this actually went amazingly well.

3. be ok with tinier blog posts until next week - still working on tinifying blog posts.

I had goals for this week written down even if I did not make it here to post about them:

1. Take Wednesday as an artist date and change the pace/way I approach the day - YES, had lots of fun, as detailed here.
2. Play with paints and glitter and have fun - YES, very successful!
3. Continue to blog daily - YES! And I took your advice (I think it was Lauren or Kiki) to write a list of things i miss because of my restricted diet.

So, despite my utter fail in posting here, I felt like I had a successful week. I will be back tomorrow to post about my goals for this coming week.

gussying up week 2

2009-08-30T17:49:00.005-04:00

i hope you all had a glorious weekend as i did. i'm writing this on sunday due to saturday being a very energy filled day. i took a reiki 1 class from 10 - 4. it was information packed and intense 6 hour course. there were just two of us taking the class. although the class was small, in all honesty, it couldn't have worked out more perfectly as far as i'm concerned. i have had energy work done before by the instructor and had some amazing results. i instantly clicked with the lady that was taking the class with me. it's as if i already knew her although i've never seen her before. i don't know if you believe in synchronicity at all or not but yesterday made me think a little more about it.

while we were sitting on yoga blankets in the floor in sukhasana i happened to look over at my fellow class mate and she had on the exact pendant that i wanted to get at our local bead store. it was a gorgeous tibetan pendant with turquoise around a tibetan symbol. later on i asked her, 'did you get that at the beadmonster?' and she was like 'yeah, how did you know?' and i was like 'cause i had my eye on it and was going to buy it but didn't have the money that day and when i went back to get it, it was gone.' we shared a laugh over it and she told me we could share it. :) i told her that it was where it rightfully belonged but that i was a bit jealous. we again laughed and laughed. it seemed to make our connection grow even stronger.

to finish up our session we got to practice reiki on each other. it was extremely powerful. it was a great experience and definitely left me curious for more. one day i hope to make it to reiki master.

i came home starving after my reiki class. i heated up some vegetarian chili that ryan had made the night before and ate that while telling him high points about the class and about meeting my fellow class mate. all of the energy i had expended earlier in the day left me longing for a nap and with my belly full of chili, that is exactly what i did. i spent the rest of the evening sharing an ice cream and book store browsing with ryan. after our running around we came home and shared the couch reading our new purchased material (him - 'the serpent and the rainbow: a harvard scientist's astonishing journey into the secret societies of haitian voodoo, zombis, and magic' by wade davis and me - the september of real simple magazine).

tree at cooper's rock - photo by moi

recap & outcome of week 2 goals:
- continue with 3 posts on gussying up the tuttle and 1 post for my morgantown musings - YES
- learn the bones of the body (in prep for getting ready to start massage therapy school in just a little over a month) this was a goal i set for myself for august. here it is the last week of august so i must get on this! - actually no. i know most of the major bones of the body but don't know them all. i spoke with a mentor about where i should start to help prep for my classes at the end of september and she recommended that i start with a massage therapy book that i have.
- continue morning pages if i feel that the quality of writing is good enough - i am afraid that i didn't do a single morning page but i don't feel a bit guilty for it either.

my reward (even though i didn't fully deserve it): real simple magazine.

week 3 goals:
- continue 3 posts on gussying up the tuttle & 1 post for my morgantown musings
- spend some time collecting my thoughts regarding my future as a massage therapist (start a notebook/file with thoughts and ideas)
- morning pages if necessary
- practice reiki on myself everyday and journaling about my experiences

i encourage each of you to give one thing this week - whether it be holding open a door for someone, pay someone a compliment, a hand written thank you card, even a smile. see how it makes that other person feel and subsequently how it makes you feel. it's so simple but yet so powerful. it can even turn your day around. i hope you all have a productive week.

Alison week 1 update

2009-08-29T04:36:00.002-04:00

Thanks so much for the warm welcome.

This has been a strange week as we have all had colds and I have been running on a couple of hours sleep a night. Here is a review of my goals:-

*3 quality blog posts (at the moment I am typing them out exhausted when the little ones are in bed. I know the quality is not that great and would like to develop this area).
I have managed to complete this and am pleased that the quality is improving and I am regaining the blogs focus. I have also created some posts to be published when I am away.

*Get up to speed on my google reader account. I love to see what others are up to and it also offers inspiration to my creative journey.
Am now up to date (although I know it will be crammed full on return from my holidays but that's alright as that's just life!). I think that I will start to implement a system of reading blogs 3 times a week as opposed to daily as that seems more manageable.

I am writing this with my son asleep beside me and my rather wriggly daughter on my knee. Not the ideal environment for creativity but this is my life right now (which I love!) and until I return to work I will be the queen of juggling!

No goals for the next couple of weeks as I am in France but I am looking forward to catching up on my return. Have a fun and productive fortnight.

How do you decide how much to share?

2009-08-27T14:01:00.003-04:00

Hello lovelies. I am sorry that it has been so long since I have posted here. The reason I have been so absent is that I had to attend to both physical and emotional health issues. Now that they have balanced out, I feel like I can dedicate more time here and to my blog.

I just caught up on all of your posts and you are all so lovely and inspirational. It makes me so happy to be a part of this community. I also wanted to extend a warm welcome to Melita and Allison.

I have a question for you lovelies. In your writing (for example memoirs or research papers on a subject that are near and dear to you) and on your blogs, how do you decide how much to share? I am currently having difficulty with my blog in deciding where I want to draw the line on what to share. I want part of my blog to be an honest depiction of what it is like to survive abuse and fight for justice. I just don't know how much about my story I should share. Do any of you lovelies have any suggestions or strategies for how much you share about yourselves?

Tomato: Week 10

2009-08-26T14:27:00.002-04:00

Bonjour, my darlings! Remember when I said I'd start my goals on Monday? Yeah, that didn't work out so well for me this week, now did it? Here it's already Wednesday - oops! Ah well, let's revisit those Week 9 goals, shall we?

WEEK 9 GOALS:

1) Write blog post on therapy avec Dr. G. Y'all have been so supportive about my decision to see a therapist, and I've been wanting to share some of the things I've discovered/learned about myself through my sessions with Dr. G. Le FAIL. But I will do it... soon.

2) Devote Friday night to crafting, creating & writing. Make it a lovely artist date complete with yummy food & fun jamz. I didn't do a ton of crafting & creating & writing, but I did keep it mine, which is what I intend to do from here on out. I need my Friday nights to myself!

3) 1 morning of morning pages (on a normal work weekday!) Oui, and it was divine, but I am still oh-so-struggling with my mornings... :(

I'm kind of having a rough time. Not sure what's going on. Part of it is that work suddenly got so busy, and I'm so not used to it. Part of it is that when my schedule gets more chaotic, I crave solitude even more and feel bad about saying no to social engagements and other obligations. Do y'all have trouble with this? I feel guilty about putting me first.

Last night, after a particularly rough day at work, I decided to have a ME night - no work, no obligations, no guilt. Instead of hopping on the treadmill, I crawled into my bed with My Life In France and proceeded to stay there until I finished. It was divine. I need more ME nights.

And with the whole ME concept in place, voila my Week 10 Goals:

1. Keep my Friday nights sacred, and say no when you have to. And DON'T feel bad about it!

2. Re-implement the 11 p.m. lights out rule, and set wake-up time to 7:30 a.m. (will be earlier next week if this week goes well). Give myself at least 15 minutes to do morning pages.

3. Replace evening laptop time with book time. It's so easy to drag my laptop into bed with me, but I don't think it does me any good. And since I'm on a computer ALL day at work, it would be nice to indulge in my 20+ books instead of indulging in the internet.

And so I bid you adios....

2009-08-26T10:37:00.003-04:00

School starts up again next week and I am in for a very rough semester. After my trip to Maine last week I did some long and hard thinking about how I spend my time, where my stress lies, obligations vs free time, etc. In all of that, I realized that I need to cut some things out. Unfortunately, writing here, as well as most free time type writing, will need to take a backseat until I graduate in May. I can barely keep up with Everyday Revelry (and may not even do that very often), so I need to cut back elsewhere too.

Well, my dear SWIMmers, it has been a great run with you all.

I hope to join you all again next summer. Until then, happy writing!

~Lauren

Vienna: Another quick one.

2009-08-25T13:40:00.003-04:00

Hi ladies!

I am now in Nafpaktos, Greece, and after a nice visit to the castle and a long stay in the beach, I've found an unsecured WIFI (thank you, nice neighbour) so I can quickly say hello and read your latest posts.

First of all I have to say I am thrilled Melita and Alison have joined us. Congratulations! It's amazing the way SWIM is developing!

As Revisionista wrote, instead of getting frustrated for my lack of writing opportunities, I am taking this time as part of the process I have to go through to find where I am now and where I want to be (and everything in between) in my writing life. I am considering the various spheres of my life from the academic to the artistic also including my yoga and personal life. I am trying to make the difficult process of establishing priorities (real ones, if that makes sense at all). Everything feels pretty chaotic right now but I trust everything will find its own place and time and I'll have the clarity of mind to see it.

Tomorrow I am heading towards the isle of Levkada. Apparently it looks like paradise. Good scenery always help good thoughts, don't you think?

Loads of love, X.

Kiki: Goals and Rewards

2009-08-24T01:32:00.000-04:00

Lightning fast post, because I'm hopping on the train to Edinburgh in less than two hours!

I accomplished my major goal of completing my final dissertation chapter last week - thank you all so much for celebrating with me on Twitter! It is such a load off my mind that the skeleton is now in place, and I can give it a break for a little while before going back with fresh eyes.

My reward for accomplishing that goal is five glorious days cycling around the Scottish border region with my guy while staying in this completely fantastic 16th-century tower without my computer.

That's right - this week, I am Komputerless Kiki. It's so exciting I don't even know where to begin!

Unfortunately, that means I won't be able to read and comment on your lovely posts until next weekend. But I'll be back in force, with lots of encouragement and inspiration in thanks for all the encouragement and inspiration you bring to me!

Thank you for welcoming Melita and Alison into our fold! I'm so thrilled that this little project that started off with just Revisionista and myself has grown into a real community.

See you next weekend! Love to you all!

Revisionista: Update & Goals August 24-30

2009-08-23T13:30:00.002-04:00

With Week 1 of classes behind me, I'm beginning to see that I'm going to have to revise how I'm going about some things to make sure that I prioritize my most important goals. As Kiki said in one of her blog posts, there's enough time in the day to do everything that's IMPORTANT, so I think I'm going to downsize my goal lists (taking a page out of Carolyn's play book) and focus on 3-4 Most Important Things.

Last week I managed to get 4 of my goals checked off (although the list was long, I'd aimed for checking off 4-5 items).

*Artist Date (no idea yet)
YES! *60min of writing practice (10min/day)
*5pp of intro for academic rsch book
*Add notes about changes to TS article
YES!*Finish 1 fun book
*2-3 blog posts
*1-2 Italian podcasts (I listen to My Daily Phrase Italian on itunes, Kiki)
YES!*Plant 1 or 2 new seeds in my metaphysical garden
YES!*2-3 days of journaling/morning pages

Let's see how I do with a more focused list this week:

*60 min of writing practice (10min/day)
*Freewrite 5pp of rsch book intro
*Artist date: shoe shopping & matinee next Saturday
*Play in my garden (this could include anything from planning my Italy/Paris adventure next summer, listening to Italian podcasts, and reading for fun to journaling, collaging, blogging)

It'll probably take a week or two for me to get in sync with my schedule this semester, but hopefully little goals like these will help me stay in touch with my writing priorities and some of the self-care rituals I started this summer.

Have a fabulous week, SWIMmers :)

gussying up - week 1

2009-08-22T12:22:00.005-04:00

is there anything better than fresh watermelon on a saturday afternoon?! i think i could eat my weight in watermelon but don't simply for the fact that i don't like running to the bathroom every 10 mins :)

i'd like to say thank you for all of your kind words. you lovely ladies are one of the main reason why i became a swimmer. my first week of swimming lessons went rather well overall. here were my goals and results:

week 1 goals:
- try to do morning pages every morning (regardless of whether or not i reach 3 pages) - not quite every morning but i still see this as a success. i skipped two days because i just didn't feel like writing. the other days (except one) i actually wrote 3 pages. i feel that the quality of the writing i did the days i did my morning pages made up for the two days i didn't do them. so i see this as a success.
- blog at least 3 times on gussying up the tuttle and at least once on my morgantown musings - i did rather well on this actually. i figured i'd knock out the three blog posts on gussying up the tuttle and barely get in one for my morgantown musings. what actually happened was i got just three posts on gutt and did three good quality posts on mmm plus one photo op post.
- implement a reward system like you ladies have set up - i am still working the details of this one out. i think rewards will vary from week to week. if i have something in mind that i want to work for then i'll post that ahead of time, if not, then i will just give myself a reward after i have met my goals.
- make my weekly check ins on saturday (or at the very latest sunday) - it is saturday so kudos to me :) this goal i plan on continuing with.

i feel that i did rather well on my first week of swimming so for this weeks reward: figs! yes, sweet, juicy figs. i am going to the store later and buying myself some black mission figs! :)

this is my angel wing begonia. i thought these two leaves came together to show why it is named angel wing.

week 2 goals:
- continue with 3 posts on gussying up the tuttle and 1 post for my morgantown musings
- learn the bones of the body (in prep for getting ready to start massage therapy school in just a little over a month) this was a goal i set for myself for august. here it is the last week of august so i must get on this!
- continue morning pages if i feel that the quality of writing is good enough

Alison - an introduction.

2009-08-22T04:43:00.002-04:00

I am so excited to become part of this group. My head is full of ideas that I am hoping to put into action. This sounds like a great place to share these ideas, gain support, keep motivated and offer support to other like-minded individuals.

Let me explain where I am right now. Currently on maternity leave from work until December so my computer time is a little hit and miss right now. I am hoping to develop my blog (and have a web-site under development). From a work point of view I have a couple of book chapters coming out in September (the book is available to pre-order on Amazon which I am getting such a buzz about). I also have a couple of academic articles pending publication BUT I really want to develop another side to my writing which is less academic and more free-flowing (if that makes any sense!). I am around 1 week before my holidays so will be back in full flow mid-Sept.

My goals this week:-

3 quality blog posts (at the moment I am typing them out exhausted when the little ones are in bed. I know the quality is not that great and would like to develop this area).
Get up to speed on my google reader account. I love to see what others are up to and it also offers inspiration to my creatove journey.

As for my reward.... that will be my holiday this time around (can I have that as my reward every week?!).

Looking forward to connecting with you on here.

Vienna: a thought before Greece.

2009-08-21T15:21:00.003-04:00

Hi again!

This might be my last chance to 'mini-post' till next week, since tomorrow I am leaving Barcelona to fly to Athens. I am quickly using my sister's computer now so, again, I'll be brief. I am very looking forward to re-take my writing and blogging routine and catch up with all your blogs. I will definitely be using our new 'Swimmer's locker' since I'd like to share something which I don't necessarily want to make public but I feel like I need to write and share with you.

For now, just a thought: Writers need solitude. This sentence keeps popping in and out of my mind, like a mantra. I feel like every effort I made in July to create a space for 'my artist' is going to waste. However, I suppose I'm learning from my mistakes. I need to make time in my life for my writing. I need to put myself first for once and I will have to do it or my dream will never happen. My artist is screaming inside. From now on I am determined to listen.

City Girl Check-in

2009-08-18T07:36:00.001-04:00

This past week was a mixed bag overall. I kind of felt like Kiki - I know how to balance things, yet could not practice it. The biggest success was "reconnecting with my food blogger self" - I made a couple of detox diet appropriate dishes that I was actually excited about (one of them being a really good tomato sauce). I also went back to see Julie and Julia for a second time and really focused on the positives in the movie, rather than the endless pats of butter reminding me all the food in the movie is off-limits to me. Finally, instead of collaging in the reserved time on Saturday afternoon, I went to a yoga class, organized recipes and reorganized the fridge/freezer.

The yoga class was because I had not done yoga that whole week, so a class usually jumpstarts my wanting to practice at home, plus is a good reminder how well my body is doing compared to 6 months ago. The organizing recipes and fridge was applying the same concept of "seducing oneself" that Revisionista talked about recently in the context of writing. The fridge took only about 5 minutes to organize, but the freezer was more necessary - several items in there had freezer burn and I know that if anything in the kitchen makes me unhappy, it won't help with trying to stay motivated to cook and stay on the diet etc.

So overall, that part was the most successful - the rest of the week, much more of a mixed bag.

Goals for last week:
1. daily blog posts - barely. I finished Saturday's post on Monday night.
2. 3 back-up posts - yes in that I worked on them, but no in that I will end up using them when I am out of town this weekend
3. collage - i substituted other activities instead (see above)
4. reconnect with my food blogging self- success! (see above)

This week, husband and I are travelling to a wedding in upstate NY and visiting his family there. So I am going to keep my goals tiny:

1. tiny journaling every day of the trip
2. blog posts up until Sunday {will likely post Monday retroactively when I am back on Tuesday unless I have good Beauty Monday inspiration this week}
3. be ok with tinier blog posts until next week

Reward: going to a couple of craft stores while we are in suburbia in upstate NY. Michael's and the like in the Washington, DC area require a car, and while I could zipcar to one of them, I invariably just order online or wait until I am somewhere in suburbia with a car.

Vienna: Still SWIMming!!!

2009-08-18T04:27:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone!

Yes, I am still SWIMming and I've been thinking of you all this time. I am now in a little, isolated village in Spain and eventually I managed to find a computer with Internet connection. I have only a couple of minutes so I'm going to be brief for now. I have really missed the blog so much!
I am slowly reading all your posts; however, I will not have time to leave a comment for now. But I am here!!! Maybe invisible, but still here!
My writing goals and achievements are not going great (I'll tell you all about it when I get the chance), but I am still writing Morning Pages and I have diverted my creativity towards Photography, and I see it as a different way of telling stories. I have already taken about 1,000 pics!!!
I love Revisionista's private space idea. Thanks very much for doing that. I can't wait to pop in and have a look.
There are so many things I'd like to write!!! So little time right now!!! My next GOAL: To handwrite my next SWIM posts with a summary of my 'Writing' holiday experience and sneak into this Internet place I've just found to post it.

Bye for now and I hope to read you all very soon.

X

Tomato: Week 9

2009-08-17T11:13:00.002-04:00

I normally post my SWIM goals mid-week on Wednesday, but I think I'm going to move over to Monday's since it's truly the "start" of my week.

Revisiting last week's goals...

1) Write thank you cards for all bday wishes and gifts this weekend. Oui! I spent Friday night writing beaucoup thank you notes and even wrote facebook thank you's, haha.

2) 1 morning of morning pages (trying to be realistic here). Yes, but it was on a day that I planned to work from home in the morning, so it counts, but not really? I'm so struggling with creating a morning ritual, and this is one of the tasks I'd love to include in my ideal ritual. Boo.

3) Carve out time for some journal play avec Journal Bliss (the FABULOUS book recommended by our very own Revisionista). Loooove!! As you saw from the last post - YES! I really enjoyed Journal Bliss-ing out, and I plan to play more. I may declare Friday night to be my stay-in and do fun creative exercises night. ;-)

Now for my WEEK 9 GOALS:

1) Write blog post on therapy avec Dr. G. Y'all have been so supportive about my decision to see a therapist, and I've been wanting to share some of the things I've discovered/learned about myself through my sessions with Dr. G.

2) Devote Friday night to crafting, creating & writing. Make it a lovely artist date complete with yummy food & fun jamz.

3) 1 morning of morning pages (on a normal work weekday!)

I think I'm going to stick to 3 goals... with life being so chaotic and busy these days, I find myself much more likely to stay on task and complete these goals if I make them realistic and succinct. Bonne semaine, ladies!!

Journal Bliss

2009-08-17T00:18:00.007-04:00

Bonsoir, mes amies! I'm up way later than I should be, but I wanted to post some pictures of my journal. Friday night I played around with Journal Bliss (uber fab book, I highly recommend it!), and this is what I created with acrylic paints, magazine cut-outs, charcoal pencils, etc. (Um yes, I attempted to draw/doodle despite my complete LACK of artistic ability. That's what Journal Bliss is all about, no?)

Be back later with my weekly goals!!

Revisionista: Update & Goals

2009-08-16T22:18:00.002-04:00

First off, I wanted to thank y'all for your support and comments on my locker room post. As City Girl said in an email to me, I was mourning the loss of the novel. I think I was also mourning the loss of the version of myself that wrote the first draft & planned the second draft of the novel. I mean, going from a novel to a short story isn't that big a deal, but realizing that deep down the story I was trying to tell was much darker and more complex than the one I'd originally conceived of kind of shook me up.

I'm taking a break from that story until the Fall SWIM begins, but in the meantime, I'm having oodles of fun exploring what I want to write about next.

Classes start next week and I'm pleased to say that I'm feeling pretty good about the semester ahead. In the past, I've often felt as though I had to shift into professor mode, or put on my teaching persona when fall semester began. But this summer I think I've managed to integrate my research, fiction/creative, & teaching selves (under the heading of storyteller). So even though my vacation is over, the crafting, journaling, fiction writing, artist dating, reading, etc will all continue into the semester. I'm officially saying goodbye to the idea of separate selves/personas, especially since Kiki's fabulous series on work/life balance has given me new perspective: Life is just that, life. And right now my life includes teaching some days, artist dates others, advising thesis students, writing my academic book, learning the craft of fiction writing, cooking, playing, yogaing, running, etc etc etc

That said, I think I'm going to keep my SWIM goals focused on the writing and crafting I want to do each week. The teaching & silly admin stuff will get done because it has to. So, I want to reserve this space to advance the very important goals that can sometimes get neglected during the semester when seemingly more urgent tasks are distracting me.

Here's how I did last week:

YES! (14 hours!!)*Aim for 7 hours of novel time
YES! *Type last week's novel pages
*Freewrite 5pp of Intro for Le Rsch Book
*Notes on Vol. I of Estelle
*Add changes to TS Article
*Proof, copy, & BB 417 syllabus
*Proof, copy, & BB 310 syllabus
YES! (finished & posted a review of Spoiled) *Finish 1 fun book
YES! *Send City Girl pearl of wisdom
YES! *Artist Date: bookbinding workshop on Saturday

So, I didn't get to the teaching and research stuff, but I planted some important seeds in my metaphysical garden that'll hopefully continue to grow this semester.

This week I want to do the following:

*Artist Date (no idea yet)
*60min of writing practice (10min/day)
*5pp of intro for academic rsch book
*Add notes about changes to TS article
*Finish 1 fun book
*2-3 blog posts
*1-2 Italian podcasts (I listen to My Daily Phrase Italian on itunes, Kiki)
*Plant 1 or 2 new seeds in my metaphysical garden
*2-3 days of journaling/morning pages

I think I have 9 ideal goals listed. Let's see if I can accomplish at least 4-5 of them this week.

Kiki: Check-in and New Goals

2009-08-16T12:37:00.000-04:00

Last week, instead of setting specific writing goals, I set bottom lines. They didn't work as well as I would have hoped.

1) I will only do one thing at a time by monotasking with a timer to hold myself accountable for all things prone to attention splatter: dissertating, tweeting, reading blogs, writing my own blog, and doing Yogademia work.
This actually worked out okay. But I have to become even more focused on the monotasking within a task, like sticking with one webpage at a time instead of moving on to something else while I'm waiting for the site to open.

2) I will not postpone yoga because I feel I should be blogging or reading first. Practice first; blog after.
I didn't postpone it; I actually just didn't practice twice this week, but made it all other days. The first time it was because I was blogging, and the second was because an emergency bike repair offered Darcy and me the chance for a spontaneous mini-date while my bike was in the shop. I'm still not getting in the time I want to, though.

3) I will limit my tweeting to 30 total minutes per day, and limit e-mail time to a maximum of 90 minutes to be batch-checked ONLY at 7a.m. 11 a.m., and 4:15p.m.
With all the links people put into twitter, this doesn't really work. So I regrouped it into my daily inspiration-gathering time, but to be honest I fell off the timer wagon for that one as well. Batch-checking e-mail only at limited times is going pretty well though.

4) I will spend at three hours working on Yogademia daily, but NO LESS THAN two hours of that will be spent writing and drafting posts, and NO MORE THAN one hour on inspiration-gathering.
Crikeys, that was ambitious. I ended up spending WAY more time than that on Yogademia last week, and that really didn't work so well for my pursuit of balance. I need to learn to write shorter posts and spend time revising rather than perfecting. Perfecting has officially become a problem for me.

5) I will dissertate for five hours daily and cross 20,000 words this week (about 2300 each day).
I made it to 15k words, and really can't go any further for the moment. This is the conclusion chapter, but the problem is I'm still waiting for supervisor comments on three of the other four chapters I've written in the last six months. Without those comments and working through my other chapters first, I have to stop where I am for now. So the chapter will ultimately go well over 20k I imagine, but not for a good few months yet.
-------------------------
Sometimes I felt like rather a hypocrite last week, blogging about balance when I wasn't feeling terribly balanced myself for all the time I was spending on the computer. Saturday was spent doing a ton of post writing and drafting for the coming week and the last week of August when I'm away from my computer for five whole days. I didn't do my Artist Date (unless you count Saturday as an all-blogging retreat) this week, didn't sort out a reward (which, let's face it, I didn't earn), and missed yoga twice on top of all that. [Cue Bronx cheer.]

The problem is, because I spent so many years moving around for research, I started putting everything on my computer: yoga classes, blog, work, play, skype, music, running maps, fun creativity exercises, recipes, etc. Literally, my entire life is on the computer, and you can't write about life and balance and all those other wonderful things unless you're away from the computer. Well, duh, but why is that so freakin' difficult? The last thing I want is to be attached at the hip to my laptop, which I will admit is more true than not.

Any tips on how to step away from the computer? Without feeling guilty?

Goals August 16-22
1. Complete conclusion chapter draft and send out to advisor by/before Friday.
2. Complete Yogademia posts for this week by the end of Tuesday
3. Complete Yogademia posts for next week by the end of Friday
4. Begin a blogging-free week on Saturday
5. Daily yoga practice, with 75-90 minute practices at least three times this week, preferably four.
6. Move away from my computer as much as possible within all that.

Artist Date: an hour spent streetcombing

Reward: To celebrate the completion of my full dissertation draft! Five days of computer-free cycling holiday in Scotland with Darcy staying in a 16th-century tower (our original plan to cycle along Hadrian's Wall wasn't going to work out schedule-wise).

gussying up for a swim

2009-08-15T17:43:00.009-04:00

saturday afternoons were invented for napping . i say that because i just woke up from my sugar induced cupcake coma. after dreaming pleasant dreams i awoke to my beloved mini-mollohans napping away their saturday afternoons with me. who would have ever thought that sharing the bed with 2 cats and a dog would be so great.

shortly after waking, the mini-mollohans began abandoning one by one. i decided to follow suit and write my first post on swim. i am excited to be (finally) joining swim. i've thrown the idea around several times but thought, 'what do i have to say,' and 'i'm not a writer.'

i'm learning to swim (picture seeing me in bright colored arm floaties, like we used to have when we were kids) for several reasons.

first, i want to focus on the written word - my written word. i used to journal and then not so much. i am trying to remedy that and journal more. i also want to be more consistent with my morning pages. (question regarding morning pages below)

second, i am more than thrilled to be working in-cahoots with you lovely ladies. you all inspire me everyday. it was you that inspired me swim along. i just wish that i would have joined sooner but things have to happen when we are ready. just like when i started my own blog, it was reading all of your blogs that inspired me to do so. and i've had such a great time with it (even though i realize i have no specific niche but i'm ok with that).

and third, i want a little more creativity in my everyday.
now for my question. i was trying to get a better idea of how you all feel about journaling vs morning pages. do you do them both? are they a separate entity for you? what i mean is, when i do my morning pages it feels like i'm journaling. then when i go to journal, i feel like i'm rehashing what i said earlier in my morning pages. i'd love your advice, suggestions and/or input on this issue. thanks in advance!

week 1 goals:
- try to do morning pages every morning (regardless of whether or not i reach 3 pages)
- blog at least 3 times on gussying up the tuttle and at least once on my morgantown musings
- implement a reward system like you ladies have set up
- make my weekly check ins on saturday (or at the very latest sunday)

A little motivation

2009-08-15T02:26:00.001-04:00

11 Reasons Writers Know More than Publishers

Madeline L’Engle’s book, A Wrinkle in Time, was turned down 29 times before she found a publisher.
C.S. Lewis received over 800 rejections before he sold a single piece or writing.
Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind was rejected by 25 publishers.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was rejected 121 times.
Johathan Livingston Seagull was rejected 40 times.
Louis L’Amour was rejected over 200 times before he sold any of his writing.
The San Francisco Examiner turned down Rudyard Kipling’s submission 1n 1889 with the note, “I am sorry, Mr. Kipling, but you just do not know how to use the English language.”
An editor once told F. Scott Fitzgerald, “You’d have a decent book if you’d get rid of that Gatsby Character.”
The Dr. Seuss book, And to Think I Saw it on Mulberry Street, was rejected for being “too different from other juveniles on the market to warrant selling.”
George Orwell’s Animal Farm was rejected with the comment, “It’s impossible to sell animal stories in the USA.”
The manuscript for The Diary of Anne Frank received the editorial comment, “This girl doesn’t, it seems to me, have a special perception or feeling which would lift that book above the curiosity level.”

SWIMmers' Locker Room

2009-08-12T21:04:00.001-04:00

Hi Everyone!

After seeing some other people post about wanting to write about personal things but not on the public blog, I decided to create this space for us in case we would like to go into more detail about our lives or the writing we're trying to do. Everyone's who's been participating so far has access.

You should've received an invite to the Locker Room: http://swimmerslockerroom.blogspot.com/

If you didn't receive an invite, leave a comment here so I can resend it.

I just posted about how I burnt my novel to the ground today; there's nothing left of it but a tragic short story.

Tomato: Week 8

2009-08-12T12:38:00.002-04:00

Checking in from last week...

Week 6 Goals:

1) Attempt morning pages (actually in the morning) at least 2x/week - Only did 1 day, but it felt great. Eventually I want part of my morning ritual to be - sit in armchair and do morning pages while sipping freshly brewed coffee.

2) Work on planner pad - i love my planner pad, but i often don't use it as best i could. I'm going to try and carve out some time this weekend to really spend time planning the week ahead. Yes! And with my busy busy week, my planner pad looks crazy! ;-)

3) Write 3 snail mail letters/cards to friends. (I've been truly slacking on this one.) Ugh FAIL.

4) Post weekly SWIM goals in planner pad! Yes, and it's uber helpful to remind moi of what I need to be doing (and much easier/quicker to reference than pulling it up online!).

5) Write a difficult blog post for moi... has been on my mind for quite some time, but have been scared to write it. I think it will be good for me. FAIL but will do it when I have some more time.

Needless to say, time is on my mind these days. My schedule has become insanely packed overnight, and I'm not sure how to handle it all. I went from having all the time in the world at work to play/blog/tweet/write, and now I have more work than I can do in a day on top of everything else AND more obligatory & fun engagements ahead. Ahh! I'm trying to find a balance without overwhelming myself. Man, how do you guys do it? You all seem way busier than moi!

Voila my WEEK 8 GOALS:

1) Write thank you cards for all bday wishes and gifts this weekend.

2) 1 morning of morning pages (trying to be realistic here).

3) Carve out time for some journal play avec Journal Bliss (the FABULOUS book recommended by our very own Revisionista). Loooove!!

I'm sticking to 3 goals this week so as to not feel uber pressured by this lovely SWIM group that i *so* adore!!

Lauren's Check-In

2009-08-11T10:18:00.003-04:00

Hi all,

Thank you so much for your kind words regarding feeling stuck. I know that this happens to everyone at some point or another, but lately it seems like I feel stuck in all aspects of my life and not just with writing. I'm setting small goals for myself with the hope of not feeling too overwhelmed.

Goals for this week:

-Journal about my responses and reactions to this article from the Icing blog called "2009: Where Are You At?"

-Read Michael Pollan's article, "Out of the Kitchen, On to the Couch"

-Do the week 1 assignment for my freelance writing course (an introduction plus why I want to be a freelance writer)

-Write a draft of an essay for Birthright Israel's essay contest on what the trip meant to me (2 winners get round trip tickets to Israel! Second place is a $500 Amazon gift card and third is a $250 Amazon gift card!). I have been wanting to put words to my experience for awhile now, so I figure that this is my chance.

-Keep up with my Morning Pages

Reward: I leave on Friday to spend a week in Maine with my boyfriend and his family. My reward is the trip and the gift of free time. If I don't finish these things, I'll be doing them at a lake in Maine when I could be enjoying myself!

City Girl Check-in

2009-08-10T21:12:00.003-04:00

Thank you to all of you for your helpful comments and suggestions. I think I am finding a balance in my writing in terms of authenticity and negativity and positivity as it relates to my detox diet series- the Week 5 post introduces the more negative side - I was actually pretty happy with that post, because it captured Week 5 as it was, yet also allowed me to introduce the negatives aspects I really started feeling then, and which have gotten much stronger in recent weeks {I am now at the beginning of Week 11}.

I am definitely going with the "let the vinegar" flow approach and then going back and editing with gentler honey language. It is a fascinating exercise - if anything, I am starting to feel like I can address more negativity on my blog in general, something I really shy away from.

I also really need to reconnect with my food blogger self. I feel like that has really fallen by the wayside because of the restricted diet - worse, my love for cooking has totally waned too. The last few weeks I have not enjoyed the majority of my time cooking {the word drudgery come to mind, whereas usually cooking energizes me}, and I am losing interest in posting recipes on the blog as a result. I am still trying to think of strategies on that one. Watching Julie and Julia backfired in that respect - I hate the thought of forbidden foods, and right now I can't eat pretty much anything that was made in the movie. The luscious food photography was beautiful, but somehow I didn't leave inspired to eat and blog about it.

This would not be something I would bring up on SWIM except that cooking and food blogging are pretty much intertwined for me at this point, so losing interest in one is making the other suffer.

As for last week's check-in:
1. daily blog posts - Almost, though I finished Saturday's post on Sunday and Sunday's post today.
2. write 3 back-up posts - No - need to do that this week. I have a block of time tomorrow where I can at least jot ideas in a notebook.
3. creativity space carving-out time + new routine of collaging (tiny collaging) - Yes on the creativity space carving-out time, and it feels wonderful. I am finally starting to carve out a creative space in our tiny postage stamp of an apartment. Some of it is that I had assumed my creative space would reside in the alcove, but instead have decided to center it around the vanity (which can become a tiny desk). I did a little tiny collaging too.
4. tiny journaling (still in list mode) - Some, but not as much as I would like.

Goals for this week:
1. daily blog posts
2. 3 back-up posts
3. collage
4. reconnect with my food blogging self.

Good luck with your weeks.

dharmagirl: goals august 10-16

2009-08-10T11:15:00.004-04:00

sunset over Lake Michigan

Last Week's Goals
1. try to write a little something every day. mostly
2. soak up beauty.yes, yes, YES
3. wonder at the natural magnificence on the long drive. yes, until i was overcome by caffeine deprivation
4. ponder important, big things whilst driving. yes, yes, YES
5. enjoy my friend's company. yes, yes, YES
6. be in the moments. yes, yes, YES

Hello! I am so glad I made the epic drive (8+ hours each way) to go visit my best friend H and her family in Northport last week. We had a lovely time catching up, chatting, sharing our dreams and fears. And, this place is absolutely beautiful and magic. Every time I visit, driving the undulating roads through orchards with sapphire lake and sky peeking through, well, I can believe that *anything* is possible. My life seems full of absolute possibility and goodness, I think in poetry and love, and, well, it's just an amazing way to be.

And now I'm back home, and the inspiration still lingers, as I gaze at my photos from the trip. The inspiration grows as G and I watch Julie and Julia in the theater, and it continues to flow as I set aside my now-filled journal and start a new one, with new goals and dreams and directions.

My flexible morning rituals are coming along nicely. I like to practice a handful of sun salutations while my milk is heating for cafe au lait and my oatmeal is cooking. After breakfast, I'll often turn to my MPs or to my blog for the first words of the day. At some point I like to fit in a little walk. BUT, some days the walk or blog or even MPs might be shifted to the afternoon, and that's okay. The good news is that I'm so addicted to journaling that if I *don't* fit it in at any time during the day, something seems a little off. This is huge. I lost this addiction for the past few years, and in doing so lost a vital, alive, true part of myself. I think MPs keep me honest with myself, don't you?!?

Anyway, I'm rambling here. This week needs to be school focused, and that's okay. I'm actually feeling excited to be back in the classroom, hopefully sharing some of the inspiration I've gathered this summer with my students and anyone else who will listen.

Goals for August 10-16
1. read to page 109ish in The Time Traveler's Wife for book club
2. write blog entry about Leelanau
3. finish ENG 102 syllabus
4. choose films, TV, etc for LEC 100 class
5. find articles, etc. for WOM 203 class
6. MP's each day
7. try my hand at writing the lune
8. catch up on emails to far-flung friends

Reward: ?!?

Revisionista: Rewards, Update & Goals

2009-08-10T09:39:00.005-04:00

Bonjour mes belles amies!

Let's talk rewards first since I finally went on my shopping trip for my CH 1 treat. And oh did I treat myself. Around this time of year, I usually head to the mall to find a couple pieces to add to my teaching wardrobe, but after browsing through Macy's, Banana Republic, and Ann Taylor on Friday, I didn't really see anything to my liking. I think the current fashion trends are confusing me--BR is all about the bombshell 60s with pencil skirts and silky tops with whimsical bows and/or ruffles. Ann Taylor has gone animal print wild and all the rest is a throw back to the 80s, and while I love having a retro 80s dance moment, I'm not so sure I want to go back to the fashions (bomber jackets are apparently in). Plus, in general, I'm in the middle of figuring out what my classic/bohemian sides really like and if there are clothes that speak to both of them.

SO, on Saturday I decided to hold off on clothes shopping and instead go for a proper bra fitting to find a nice bra or two from Intimacy as my CH 1 reward. I'll probably go into more about the fitting on my blog, but a pic of the Aubade bra (from a Parisian lingerie house that's been around since 1875!) I bought is above. It makes me feel so chic and so fabulous and the color is just grand. Plus, it was really special to do something that decadent for my body because while I don't even blink when it comes to splurging on journals or fountain pens, I'm much more frugal when it comes to clothes and even more so when it comes to undergarments.

When I was walking around the other luxury stores at Phipps Plaza sighing oh la las at every other display, I realized that there is a Becky Bloomwood inside of me who's just dying to get out. I've gotta keep girlfriend in check for the moment, BUT I was thinking that I might write my way to getting some of those "desperately important" luxury items I'm now craving. So, I'm thinking that I'll treat myself when I finish completing the draft of Le Rsch Book, completing & typing a first draft of the novel, and for submitting query materials for the novel to agents. So, I have A LOT of writing to do in the next couple semesters so I can get my 3 decadent rewards!

Since I'm saving up for some serious indulgences, my weekly rewards will have to be much more modest.

So, let's see how I did this past week:

YES! *417 syllabus, BB setup, & first day brainstorm
YES! *310 syllabus, BB setup, & first day brainstorm
managed 4/7 *Aim for 7 hours of novel time
no *Type last week's novel pages
YES! *Gather materials for Le Rsch Book introduction
no*Read/skim vol. I of E for CH 5 of Le Rsch Book
YES! *Outline fall teach/research/novel agenda
YES! *Artist Date ~~had fun exploring new fragrances & I would say bra shopping counts as an Artist Date because I'm kinda creating myself
YES! (2) *2-3 blog posts
no*1-2 Italian podcasts
no*Start mapping out dream trip itinerary for Italy
no*Send City Girl a pearl of wisdom

Since I managed to get the syllabi drafted, which was the priority for last week, I think I've earned my reward of Season 2 of Mad Men through Netflix.

With the teaching stuff under control, I'm gonna spend my last week of vacay focusing on research and novel writing.

*Aim for 7 hours of novel time
*Type last week's novel pages
*Freewrite 5pp of Intro for Le Rsch Book
*Notes on Vol. I of Estelle
*Add changes to TS Article
*Proof, copy, & BB 417 syllabus
*Proof, copy, & BB 310 syllabus
*Finish 1 fun book
*Send City Girl pearl of wisdom
*Artist Date: bookbinding workshop on Saturday

Reward: take novel out to lunch or coffee later this week

This week I took Carolyn's smart suggestion & put my SWIM goals in my journal so I can look back at them without having to get online each time.

Sorry for the tres long narrative. I'm definitely hoping to set aside some time later today to catch up on what y'all have been doing. Until then, I hope you're all having a fabulous start to the week!

Kiki: Learning how to practice what I preach

2009-08-09T13:53:00.000-04:00

Hello, my name is Kiki, and I have attention splatter. (Be sure to read part 2 and part 3 of the series!)

Specifically, I have difficulty with three things:
1) Focusing on creative output rather than blocking myself with all the goodies on the web
2) Spending too much time supposedly working on things that I am really completely splattered about
3) Not practicing what I preach in terms of priorities

Now that I am really committed to growing Yogademia, it is taking much more time. But I am also making it take more time because it is easier to claim reading other websites/tweeting/etc. as "inspiration-gathering" rather than just calling it by its true name: creative blocks and avoiding my creative output out of general creative fear and the fear of imperfect products (it's not me saying that; it's Julia Cameron). I've noticed that even my yoga practice is starting to suffer because of this, which tells me I am definitely not practicing what I preach.
----------------------
Check-in
*Get at least 10,000 words down on paper for this final chapter draft
Only made it to about 8500, but a pretty quality 8500 with some important translations.

*Spend 2-3 hours working on the book review for a complete draft
Made a good start, but the fact that I don't think too highly of the book makes it difficult.

*Draft at least five longer Yogademia posts to have in the arsenal for next week
I've started working on them in my morning pages, so they exist at least in idea format.

*Work on refining my Yogademia niche through better quality posts
This I feel I've actually made some progress on.

*Draft and post another episode of Beijing
Not even close.

*Come to terms with the fact that Beijing has to be my creative writing side project and that the book I really need to write is more in line with my Yogademia niche
Perhaps I've come to terms with this rather sooner than I expected given that I couldn't "find the time" to write Beijing this week.

*Daily Yogademia posts, yoga practice, and morning pages, of course
Missed Thursday's practice completely, and invested 20 minutes or less at least twice otherwise out of "busyness" that came from too much attention splatter. Posts and MPs are going strong, though.
-------------------

The Artist's Way has just been spot-on in its essays and tasks for every week. This week, "recovering a sense of self-protection," talks precisely about identifying your "deadlies" (those things that we actively choose as creative blocks) and battling them by setting a "bottom line" rule that specifically targets them. This week, in a variation of my writing goals, I am setting bottom lines:

1) I will only do one thing at a time by monotasking with a timer to hold myself accountable for all things prone to attention splatter: dissertating, tweeting, reading blogs, writing my own blog, and doing Yogademia work.

2) I will not postpone yoga because I feel I should be blogging or reading first. Practice first; blog after.

3) I will limit my tweeting to 30 total minutes per day, and limit e-mail time to a maximum of 90 minutes to be batch-checked ONLY at 7a.m. 11 a.m., and 4:15p.m.

4) I will spend at three hours working on Yogademia daily, but NO LESS THAN two hours of that will be spent writing and drafting posts, and NO MORE THAN one hour on inspiration-gathering.

5) I will dissertate for five hours daily and cross 20,000 words this week (about 2300 each day).

Reward: Good question. I'll have to get back you on that one.

City Girl Check-in - Part 2

2009-08-06T11:41:00.000-04:00

Hi Ladies - thank you so much for your feedback.

Lauren and Kiki - I wrote a post on blog niches - it might interest you.

I have written some draft posts on being sick of the detox diet - but I am still stuck on a few things

1. I am supposed to be posting about weeks 3 and 4, and I really want to write about weeks 7-8-9 {this is the easiest of problems to fix}

2. One thing I have yet to master is blogging about something negative without sounding like I am whining. I whine too much in real life, and I have consciously tried to not do so on my blog. Thoughts?

3. How to blog about some stuff without giving too much information - for example, sooner or later, someone is going to say in the comments "dude, is this diet like forever?" - and I can't really answer that without giving the medical reasons behind it. And doing so would not be smart from a liability perspective {I wish this site was password protected so I could tell you all more specifics, but feel free to page me individually - I know I have given the back-story to some of you over email} - going the naturopathic route instead of surgery is controversial for one of my health issues, and the last thing I want is someone delaying surgery because of reading my blog when they are past the point of no-return and need surgery. I was still at a point where I had the time to try the naturopathic approach, but I know full well I am running some amount of a risk too.

Oh, and can twitter come back please?

City Girl Check-in

2009-08-05T22:00:00.001-04:00

How is it Wednesday at 10pm? How?

The good news is that I am loving the pearls project - it's so fun to pick pictures and post other people's pearls. Thank you to all of you who sent pearls in, and please consider submitting one (or several) if you have not yet.

The bad news is I have writer's block about the Detox Diet Diaries posts all of a sudden - Week 3 is written, but I am not happy with it and haven't posted it yet. Some of it is that I am really sick of the diet -it's a lot of work and restrictions- and it's hard to keep focused on how much energy it gives me because, in the middle of Week 10, I am starting to forget how no-energy I was before starting this. So the fact I am sick of the diet is making me annoyed with writing about it.

So...

Last week's goals:
1. Daily blog posts - YES
2. Write up Weeks 3 and 4 of Detox Diet Diaries for this weekend {I may only post Week 3, not sure yet} - writer's block, resentment, I don't even like what I have written for Weeks 3 and 4 (which I rewrote and still don't like)
3. ~~Carve out more creativity spaces and figure out a Tiny Collaging approach.~~ Read journaling books, do tiny journaling, look at notebooks - YES, so inspired to carve out creative space
4. Do some thinking on morning rituals/routines/meditation - YES, I am starting to get a lot of clarity on what I want from my mornings. And also realizing how much routine I already have built in.

Rewards: I postponed buying Journal Bliss because I was thinking of buying more TranquiliT and then the seasonal sale happened this week, so last week's reward and this week's reward is my Tranquilit order.

For this week, my goals (which I wrote Monday in my planner):

1. daily blog posts
2. write 3 back-up posts - I have decided I need back-up content again, especially for a day like today where I don't get home from work until 10pm. I just don't need 20 posts of back-up content the way I used to have.
3. creativity space carving-out time + new routine of collaging (tiny collaging)
4. tiny journaling (still in list mode)

I must get to bed, but promise to visit all your blogs and SWIM posts tomorrow and write comments.

Lauren: Feeling Stuck

2009-08-05T20:04:00.002-04:00

Over the past few days, I have felt all of the possible negative emotions related to blogging and writing--up to and including deleting Everyday Revelry out of existence. The worst part is that I am not exactly sure why.

First, I am suffering from a terrible case of writer's block. I would sit and stare at the blinking cursor with nothing to say or comment on. I ripped up my list of brainstormed backup content ideas because I didn't like any of them. I can't escape the feeling that I need a niche for my blog.

Speaking of the blog, there are other things bothering me. It takes a lot of time and effort to keep up with it (and to leave comments on other blogs, which I consider part of the territory of blogging). It seems like a lot of energy for 11 readers. Those 11 readers mean a lot to me but with the sense of being overwhelmed that I was feeling, it just didn't seem worth it. I will have even less time in the next few weeks as the fall semester starts and things ramp back up at work.

I was also overcome this week with a sense of wanting to hide. I felt like I didn't want anyone else to read my writing. This wasn't just about the blog. I also got to thinking about Twitter and Facebook, as well as the LiveJournal I used to keep and my paper journals. I started to feel like I didn't want that stuff out there in the universe (or around my room, in the case of the journals), where others might seem them.

My Freelance Writing e-course starts next week and I am going away this weekend, so I think my goals for the week will be simply to keep up with yoga and my morning pages. I'm not sure I can handle much more than that at this point.

Any suggestions on how to get more followers and how to get good backup content would be appreciated!

Tomato: Week 7

2009-08-05T15:04:00.004-04:00

Bonjour, mes amies! I am excited to be back on the SWIM bandwagon and love hearing all about y'all's writing experiences. It's so inspirational! I've been feeling a lot less pressure to write, and as a result, it's coming more naturally and easily. Work's been so slow lately also that I take advantage of that time to blog and journal. I just got put on a doc review so I'll be working a lot (hopefully). Figuring out how to squeeze in time for all my "fun" writing will be a challenge, but I welcome it with open arms. After all, isn't real life learning to balance work and play?

My Week 6 check-in:

WEEK 6 GOALS!

1) Experiment with fun journaling a la Revisionista! Don't worry about lack of drawing ability and just GO FOR IT! Haha um... I did do this, but not well. I need to take Doodling 101 or something! It's ridiculous!

2) Consciously set aside your Juicy Journaling assignments and come to peace w/ the fact that I can take those on at a later time. Yup - set up a gmail folder where all my juicy journaling emails go. It doesn't stress me out to see them piling up anymore!

3) Get feedback on ideas for Le Book (may need some of y'all's help on this one) and start notebook exclusively devoted to its conception. Right now Le Book is mostly an idea in my head, and I think I need more vision and guidance before I begin writing it full-on. I envision a notebook full of ideas as a good starting point. :) Check! Also bought a notebook for Le Book and plan to start exploring ideas and thinking about feedback there. Woo hoooo

4) Keep up with SWIM!! (because you ladies are FABULOUS and INSPIRATIONAL!) Check!!

Voila my Week 6 Goals:

1) Attempt morning pages (actually in the morning) at least 2x/week

2) Work on planner pad - i love my planner pad, but i often don't use it as best i could. I'm going to try and carve out some time this weekend to really spend time planning the week ahead.

3) Write 3 snail mail letters/cards to friends. (I've been truly slacking on this one.)

4) Post weekly SWIM goals in planner pad!

5) Write a difficult blog post for moi... has been on my mind for quite some time, but have been scared to write it. I think it will be good for me.

(No reward for moi this week. I've given myself enough rewards lately. ;-) )

{photo credit - Jennifer Emery}

Vienna: Mystery goals

2009-08-03T15:59:00.002-04:00

Hi ladies!

While I write this post, I have already met one of my writing goals for the week: I have emailed my Greek friend explaining what I expected from the holiday, budget situation, writing time needed, etc. She replied and seemed understanding. Fingers crossed now!

I really don't know what to expect next week so I'll keep my goals simple:

1. Morning pages
2. Daily morning yoga.
3. Daily creative writing (I don't know what I'm going to be able to do, but I am going to 'protect' some writing time every morning, even if it's half an hour).

Well, next time I post I will be in sunny Spain since I'm flying on Wednesday! I'll include some nice pictures with my future posts.

Happy week and happy writing everyone!

Revisionista: Update, Goals, & Jedi Mindtricks

2009-08-03T07:43:00.004-04:00

Bonjour belles mademoiselles!

First off, thanks for all the lovely comments you've left on my blog & twitter thread, re my finishing CH 1 of the research book last week. I think I've said it before, but writing, especially academic writing/research, can be such an invisible process (until tenure review of course when the powers that be want to see journal articles & le book). So, it's been a great motivator to know that y'all are out there reading along as I figure out how to make a book (and a novel). Merci beaucoup! As soon as I check some stuff on my to do list this morning, I'm looking forward to popping around to each of your blogs and SWIM posts for a happy dose of inspiration.

Now typically this is the time of year that I FREAK out that my summer has ended and I have to go back to school. But this year, I think I've figured out some strategery (as Bush would say) aka some Jedi Mindtricks that'll help me get ready for classes without the usual meltdown.

Jedi Mindtricks for the Start of School

1. While my vacation may be coming to an end, it's still summer until Sept. 21. So until that scintillating summer solstice lady sings & tranquilista has us drawing more petals to welcome fall, I'm going to continue enjoying all my summer activities.

2. Instead of waiting until the week before classes start to pull together syllabi, etc I'm going to do everything this week. That way I can return to my research and summer rituals next week and then roll into the semester the following week in a calm, mindful & chic way. (Plus, I'm totally treating myself to the 2nd Season of Mad Men if I can get all my teaching stuff done by the end of the week!). I'm hoping that by making the conscious choice to do this prep work, I'll move through it tranquilly and not get bogged down in procrastination and dread.

3. Once I get my teaching/research/novel writing agenda in place for fall semester, I'm going to stay in the moment and focus on the day I'm in. I have a bad habit, which started in grad school, of living in the future--ie wishing for winter break, spring break, summer break, etc. instead of finding contentment in the day I'm actually in. So while I have some awesome stuff to look forward to in the coming year (a birthday trip to New Orleans in the spring, turning this research book in to the publisher & going to Italy as a reward), there is much to enjoy and experience on Monday, August 3rd.

So, here's a look back at last week:

* YES! morning pages: continue to incorporate sketches, doodles, etc
* YES! ~~ CH 1 is complete! 15min/weekday on CH 1 of the research book
* Comme ci, Comme ca 15min/day on le novel But I did manage to finally burn the novel house down & get back to a place where I have no idea what happens next. I know where it starts, where it might end, and an ideal turning point in the middle, but other than that, who knows. (I'll post more about this on my blog)
* YES! 1-2 Italian podcasts I'm listening to *My Daily Phrase Italian* on itunes. Each lesson is about 3-5 min & you learn a phrase or two. It's TINY Italian. :) And it's free!
* YES! read for fun (am loving my book baths--such a great way to drift off into a book w/o interrupting self w/ internet, etc)
* YES! (2) 2-3 blog posts

I'm collecting my reward of a shopping day later this week.

Here's what I'm cooking up for this week

*417 syllabus, BB setup, & first day brainstorm
*310 syllabus, BB setup, & first day brainstorm
*Aim for 7 hours of novel time
*Type last week's novel pages
*Gather materials for Le Rsch Book introduction
*Read/skim vol. I of E for CH 5 of Le Rsch Book
*Outline fall teach/research/novel agenda
*Artist Date
*2-3 blog posts
*1-2 Italian podcasts
*Start mapping out dream trip itinerary for Italy
*Send City Girl a pearl of wisdom

It's time to get to getting as Miss Niecy says on Clean House. Here's to a good first week of August!

dharmagirl: goals august 3-9

2009-08-02T21:16:00.002-04:00

Goal Update...

Goals July 27-August 2
1. write email to campus about Poetry event on Thursday yes! plus follow up email about how fabulous said event was and how lame people were for not coming (no, not really, exactly, but wanted to say that:)
2. select poems to read at aforementioned poetry event yes
3. craft ENG 102 syllabus yes--schedule all set. need some new prose, but have ideas in mind. will blend with existing syllabus prose
4. work on novel collaboration project yes--set up wiki and worked on characters a bit
5. read one hour each afternoon sorta. started reading Dracula, and read for longer at night too, a great collection of essays, Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume
6. create versions of morning rituals--flexibility is a key! not every morning is going to be/should be the same yes, and this worked really well
7. post two year anniversary blog on monday yes!
8. do something really fabulous and fun yes! spent lots of time with super awesome person
9. continue reading writing advice books for a) myself and b) for ENG 102 inspiration yes! digging Twyla Tharp!
10. check in with fellow bloggers yes, though not as much as I'd like. it's hard to keep up, especially when I fall behind. so if i don't comment, please know that i'm still paying attention to you and your conversations:)
11. MPs yes!

This past week was just the week I needed: a relatively quiet week, with no visitors and no travels. One major event, a poetry reading that I hosted, plus some fairly significant personal events/fun, still fit into my routine. I felt happy and accomplished all week, able to balance good eating and exercising with the work of writing and reading and thinking ahead to fall semester a bit.

In fact, this week went so well, that I was loathe to leave the routine for a fun break. Every summer I head to one of my best friend's parents' home in Northern Michigan for a few days of good girlfriend bonding time, shopping, eating, wine-ing, and beaching. It's a bit of a hike from here--an 8 hour drive--and I nearly discounted the trip because it would be a lot of driving and time away from my lovely routine.

But. Then I looked at my calendar, and the big START CONTRACT DATE near the end of the month, and realized these days where I can come and go as I please are coming to an end. I'll be in a much stricter routine soon enough, and should take this time for myself, and to visit my friend, and to enjoy the most beautiful, restorative place I know. And so, my goals for this week are simple:

1. try to write a little something every day.
2. soak up beauty.
3. wonder at the natural magnificence on the long drive.
4. ponder important, big things whilst driving.
5. enjoy my friend's company.
6. be in the moments.

Happy week, everyone:)

Vienna: A few Sunday notes

2009-08-02T14:47:00.004-04:00

Hi swimmers!
Just wanted to write a quick post about a few important things:

1 I do apologise if anyone has felt excluded with the comment in Spanish Lauren and I exchanged in one of my posts this week. Thanks, Kiki, for pointing it out. It just happened as an spontaneous thing and we never meant to exclude or offend anyone. I have written the translation of my part follwing Kiki's comment. Sorry, again.

2. A HUGE THANK YOU to you all for your sweet comments and wise advice on my chaotic post. I am immensly happy to belong to such as creative, kind and supportive group as SWIM.

3. My REWARD this week came without looking for it. As I've mentioned on a previous post, last night I attended the premier of Kandahar break, a controversial film shooted in Pakistan and Tunisia, where R (my boyfriend) had worked as a script supervisor. I felt so proud of him watching the film. It was amazing to see how all the hard work had come together and the product was that wonderful and beautiful film.

This is the page of the film on Facebook. It includes trailer, a piece of news and an interview to David Whitney, the director. The film is on its distribution phase. I hope some distributors show interest, the film gets sold and we can watch it soon in the cinemas!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Kandahar-Break/89397491485

Have a nice Sunday.
X

Kiki: How do you prioritize?

2009-08-02T13:36:00.000-04:00

And suddenly, it is August. Sigh. This post is therefore composed to the sounds of Brandi Carlile and Vienna Teng with a large glass of Merlot.

Wanting desperately to earn my rewards of a slice of Lush soap and a scarf last week was what kept me powering through a conference abstract, two paper revisions, chapter sorting, and drafting a review. And while technically I met all my other goals last week (missed daily yoga on Friday, when I kept thinking about it and thinking about it, and then just got caught up in helping Darcy prepare for his race), I'm left feeling like I'm not paying enough attention to Beijing.

Granted, between full days spent on professional writing, plus blogging and morning pages, I feel like do an imperial buttload of writing in the course of a week. So it's probably understandable that I spent several hours this weekend watching Hotel Babylon rather than writing Beijing. But I'm also returning to another book idea I had a while ago now that I'm refining my niche on Yogademia as well - hopefully that can be unveiled next weekend. While we have just enough time every day for what is important to us, sometimes there are just too many things that are important to me. In other words, I'm having difficulties with that prioritization thingy.

Oh, and this conversation with my parents yesterday was priceless:

Mom: "Why haven't you called?"
K: "Because I've been working - I'm trying to get the dissertation draft finished before September, and this week I had to revise the papers I'm giving in the fall."
Dad: "Have you finished your speeches then?"
K: "Dad, politicians give speeches. Academics give papers."
Mom: "Have you really been that busy?"
K: "Mom, what do you think I do all day? Sit around with my feet up eating bonbons collecting on the sales from my self-dissertating pens? Until that happens, I dissertate or do other work-writing nearly eight hours a day!"
Mom: "Oh, I didn't realize it took that much time."
K: "I'm beginning the seventh year of my Ph.D., and you're only just figuring this out now?!"
Mom: [silence]
Dad: [chuckle] "Busted."

ANYWAY.

Goals August 3-9
*Get at least 10,000 words down on paper for this final (dear lord, I hope so) chapter draft
*Spend 2-3 hours working on the book review for a complete draft
*Draft at least five longer Yogademia posts to have in the arsenal for next week
*Work on refining my Yogademia niche through better quality posts
*Draft and post another episode of Beijing (loved the Victorian serial reference, Revisionista!)
*Come to terms with the fact that Beijing has to be my creative writing side project and that the book I really need to write is more in line with my Yogademia niche
*Daily Yogademia posts, yoga practice, and morning pages, of course

Reward: Two-day Homemade Writer's Retreat next weekend, including taking my non-work writing out for a brownie and tea at Origin8.

Artist Date: two hours spent playing the guitar and singing at the top of my lungs without caring if the neighbors hear. Man, do I miss singing - using the Bon Jovi chant to close out my yoga practice only goes so far.

Tomato Pics: Collaging

2009-08-01T12:24:00.006-04:00

Was doing some collaging yesterday and thought I'd share some of what I've put into my journal this past month. Also, I put up some of my Le Book collages on my bedroom wall to serve as inspiration. I LOVE collaging - it's so therapeutic for moi!

Vienna: Check-in and chaos

2009-07-31T14:47:00.005-04:00

I really don't know what to do. Tomorrow is August. Already! I feel I am not getting anywhere with my writing. I don't know what I do with my time. I don't think I'm being too organised lately and that is not me at all. Let's check this week's objectives:

1. Morning pages. All done except from 1 day that I had a friend at home.

2. Artist's Way tasks. Written tasks, yes. Artist date NO (second consecutive week).

3. Blogging: 3 blogs.

4. 'Shooting' story. I've just written 500 words. Ridiculous!

Maybe I sound angry but I am quite angry at myself. Next Wednesday I am away for 3 weeks to Spain and Greece. It sounds fantastic but: 1. R might not be able to come with me at all (work issues). 2. A friend from Greece (who I haven't seen in 4 years) comes to visit Barcelona for 2 weeks (my sister and I will go to Greece 1 week afterwards), which sounds really nice but I don't think I'll get much time to write and be on my own. My friend had to come just for one week but because she's found some problems she is going to stay with us for 2 weeks. She is the type of person who wants to be doing stuff ALL THE TIME. I am worried about finances and I am worried I won't have time to be on my own, rest, write, relax and get ready for September. Holidays should be stress free and I feel right now I rather work!!! I really wanted to get loads of writing done this July and yes, I have read loads, reflected loads, made little changes in my life, morning pages; but I haven't achieved my main objective: dedicate more time to my creative writing. Sorry about all this worried, angry bunch of words but I had to write them down or I would have exploded. The British summer is not helping either.

I don't even know what goals I should write for next week. I feel pretty chaotic right now.

Weekend Writing Resources

2009-07-31T13:03:00.003-04:00

Check out Pen on Fire about "books, writing and life." The blog also posts a regular podcast that features interviews with writers about writing.

Lauren's Update

2009-07-31T11:35:00.002-04:00

These were my goals for the past week:

1. Get caught up on the days of the SARK journaling program that I have yet to explore. --This was an epic fail. I am really behind but I am okay with that (now, anyway--at first, every time I saw a new SARK email I got panicky). Some of the questions or topics of the day speak more to me than others right now. I am filing them all away so that I can always come back to them. I hope to do a few this coming weekend. I am also finding that there are other things coming out of my Morning Pages that are much more interesting or timely right now, so I would rather focus on writing about those.

2. Spend some time brainstorming about a possible blog niche, new posts and bigger life goals.--Again, a fail. I just haven't had the time to get to this. This is now part of my plan for this weekend.

3. Get to a yoga class at least three times this week. --I only actually made it to the studio twice this week, but I did practice at home a few other times and played with a morning meditation practice once this week. I'd say this one was a success since it was a lot of yoga and meditation for me in one week.

New Goals:

1. Keep up with my Morning Pages, even if I don't actually write them till before bed sometimes.

2. Brainstorm for blog ideas and bigger life goals.

3. Get at least a week's worth of backup blog content written so I don't feel so stressed about it.

4. Start the book, The Journey from the Center to the Page: Yoga Philosophies and Practices as Muse for Authentic Writing by Jeff Davis.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Slightly revised goals and a request

2009-07-30T22:26:00.003-04:00

Hi SWIMmers - I have a request - will you indulge me and send me a pearl (or several) of wisdom for my blog. I had this moment of inspiration today and just went with it: Pearls of Wisdom, supplied by readers, in the forms of mini-postcards to a younger (or older) self. I just posted the first one from fellow SWIMmer Lauren.

Also, after looking at my weekend and realizing that husband and I have have 4 people visiting in 2 days, I decided to postpone the reorganizing and carving out of creative spaces until next week. So I changed number 3 of the list.

1. Daily blog posts
2. Write up Weeks 3 and 4 of Detox Diet Diaries for this weekend {I may only post Week 3, not sure yet}
3. ~~Carve out more creativity spaces and figure out a Tiny Collaging approach.~~ Read journaling books, do tiny journaling, look at notebooks
4. Do some thinking on morning rituals/routines/meditation

Reward: very likely Journal Bliss, mainly because Revisionista recommended it so highly.

Vienna: Delayed goals (again)

2009-07-29T17:00:00.003-04:00

How did it happen again? Wednesday? Time really flies. After my brief holiday, Monday started the week roller coaster. I've spent most of my time working in the office and it seems that I'm going to be doing the same for the rest of the week. Writing syllabus, re-editing the modules' WebCT, assembling dossiers. So, from the professional writing point of view, I am not doing too bad. What is happening to my creative writing again? Aaaaaaah! I am evaluating my week and I haven't set my goals yet! Why everthing feels so chaotic with no goals, with no lists? Ok. Let's see what I can do.

Blog in Ones and Writing in Spanish. I have already written a post today, The postgrad party. After seeing the play Temp/Casual last Sunday at Manchester, the concept wouldn't let me go.

Finish the short (not-so-short now) story Shooting.

Catch up with The Artist's Way's tasks.

Morning pages.

Let's see what I manage. Saturday I'm back again in Manchester (Oh, I love the city!) to attend the preview of a film my boyfriend has worked on (More info next week). I'm so excited about it. If there is a red carpet (which I doubt) that I need to walk I promise to post picture!

Have a great SWIM!