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]"?
Monday, September 7, 2009
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Driftwood: Starting to Swim
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?
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
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!!
one of my favorite streets in charleston. photo by moi- 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!!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Revisionista: Update & Goals Sept 1-6
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!
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!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Tomato: Week 11
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!
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.
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.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
gussying up week 2
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).
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.
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.
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