Life has a funny way of working out. I came back from my beach vacation on Sunday kicking and screaming. I even had a bit of a fit on Sunday night because I was so aggravated with the mountain of things that didn't seem to go right. A meeting for next week got postponed before I left, I got called for federal jury duty on November 1, and that vacation just wasn't long enough for me to recover from the chaos that was my life, filled with too many petty problems and things that just couldn't seem to go right.
Today, I see how it all worked together. We got home just before an evacuation, thanks to Hurricane Matthew. The grocery shopping trip that I really didn't want to make on Monday stocked up our home before the rush on grocery stores. That meeting being moved turned out to be pretty good after all, since my work is closed for the rest of the week, so meeting prep would have rushed and uncertain. And I have three more days off because they want us to stay off the roads so people evacuating can head for safety without us tying up traffic with day-to-day comings and goings.
I'm not losing it anymore. In fact, I have a whole new perspective. Frustrating as it was just before and just after our vacation, it all worked out perfectly.
Not only that, but I decided to use my extra days off to start writing Trigger. I know I said I'd do it for National Novel Writing Month, but two things motivated me to start it early: time, and opportunity. I don't know what's going to happen with this Jury Duty on November 1 (it was cancelled last time I was called, and I may be excused - but I won't know until then). And the extra days off are an opportunity I can't pass up. I think I wrote something in a previous entry about how writers take advantage of any time they can get to write? Well, this is one such advantage. I have the story, I have most of the research, and I have the opportunity. Why not start now?
Another thing is that I came to the realization while on vacation that I push myself too hard sometimes, and frankly, I'm not sure if I could realistically write an entire novel in a month with the life I have now. I took stock of my life looking for things to cut, and realized that I have my life about as well balanced as I can get it for now. The only thing remotely disposable is exercising, and frankly I don't think that's a good idea. I hate exercising, but I've felt better and been healthier since I started it. To me, it seems the price is too high to let that go. So the solution is that it's better for me to keep doing things the way I do them. Unfortunately, I think that means writing a novel on a tight 30 day deadline isn't practical for me. Maybe I will finish it by November 30 if I start it now, and get out of jury duty. We'll see. In the end, I decided not to take a gamble or to put the pressure on myself. The important thing is to get Trigger written. And I'm not much of a gambler, anyway.
So we're battening down the hatches here, and getting ready. This is life in the southeast. You learn to adapt, and if you open your eyes, you may even see how things work out in the end.
That's all today. Take care, and have a great week.
Bye!
Today, I see how it all worked together. We got home just before an evacuation, thanks to Hurricane Matthew. The grocery shopping trip that I really didn't want to make on Monday stocked up our home before the rush on grocery stores. That meeting being moved turned out to be pretty good after all, since my work is closed for the rest of the week, so meeting prep would have rushed and uncertain. And I have three more days off because they want us to stay off the roads so people evacuating can head for safety without us tying up traffic with day-to-day comings and goings.
I'm not losing it anymore. In fact, I have a whole new perspective. Frustrating as it was just before and just after our vacation, it all worked out perfectly.
Not only that, but I decided to use my extra days off to start writing Trigger. I know I said I'd do it for National Novel Writing Month, but two things motivated me to start it early: time, and opportunity. I don't know what's going to happen with this Jury Duty on November 1 (it was cancelled last time I was called, and I may be excused - but I won't know until then). And the extra days off are an opportunity I can't pass up. I think I wrote something in a previous entry about how writers take advantage of any time they can get to write? Well, this is one such advantage. I have the story, I have most of the research, and I have the opportunity. Why not start now?
Another thing is that I came to the realization while on vacation that I push myself too hard sometimes, and frankly, I'm not sure if I could realistically write an entire novel in a month with the life I have now. I took stock of my life looking for things to cut, and realized that I have my life about as well balanced as I can get it for now. The only thing remotely disposable is exercising, and frankly I don't think that's a good idea. I hate exercising, but I've felt better and been healthier since I started it. To me, it seems the price is too high to let that go. So the solution is that it's better for me to keep doing things the way I do them. Unfortunately, I think that means writing a novel on a tight 30 day deadline isn't practical for me. Maybe I will finish it by November 30 if I start it now, and get out of jury duty. We'll see. In the end, I decided not to take a gamble or to put the pressure on myself. The important thing is to get Trigger written. And I'm not much of a gambler, anyway.
So we're battening down the hatches here, and getting ready. This is life in the southeast. You learn to adapt, and if you open your eyes, you may even see how things work out in the end.
That's all today. Take care, and have a great week.
Bye!
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