September beginnings

[vaneramos]

I arrived home from Toronto a short while ago after a brief visit with Danny. Dinner last night was a good old-fashioned LiveJournal jumble: vaneramos, djjo, bitterlawngnome, danthered, token_otter, redregon, kindar, rfmcdpei and Jerry. Watched my first Fellini film this afternoon: Roma.

I intend to work out a new daily routine for the fall. This is not intended to be rigid, but a framework, so, as lilactime once pointed out, I know what I'm supposed to be doing. Priorities to include:

1. Cleaning the apartment, an hour a day until order is restored.
2. Resume work daily on Pilgrim's Cross, the complete first draft of a novel I set aside almost two years ago.
3. Start taking mirtazapine a half hour earlier, at 9:30 p.m; hopefully I'll be able to get up at 7:30 a.m. a little less groggy.
4. Volunteering at Two Rivers, Out on the Shelf, and Rainbow Chorus will keep Tuesdays and Wednesdays busy.
5. Start a job search.
6. Back to the gym three mornings a week.
7. Resume a daily practice of meditation and walking.
8. Drawing two afternoons a week.
9. Regular time, once a week, for exploring and photographing Ontario countryside and nature.
10. Find or organize a writers group in Guelph.
11. A balanced approach to LiveJournal, correspondence, and relationships with other friends.
12. Time to read every day.
13. To approach showering, eating, masturbating, sleeping and dreaming with a sense of comfort and self-care.

I'm feeling ambitious. I've made regular habits of all these things at different times in recent years. Only the job search, country drives and writers group are new. The trick will be getting all these activities working together. Realistically, I'd be delighted to get four of them in place this week, and phase the rest in by the end of September. I also have wild elderberries to pick, canning to do, one more post to write about the Bruce Peninsula experience, and a load of more recent photos to process.

I don't feel the necessity, as usual this time of year, to take time out and withdraw. I do want to be honest with myself about how I feel, to allow time within my activities and creative work for processing it and resting, without letting it stall or isolate me.

One last photo of Dorcas Bay:

Comments

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Dear Gary, best of luck to you as well. How are you? As usual summer has forced me out of touch with most of my LiveJournal friends, but I hope to catch up as my reading becomes more regular.

[clairenolen.livejournal.com]

sounds great!! i do think this kind of " framework" and structure is important, because it gives your days roots and stabilizes the emotions.
Emotions seem to be like wild vine or ivy, always needing something to hold on to and a plan or a schedule helps them to get organized and stay above the - emotional - waterfront.
wonderful photo! :-)

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

That makes a lot of sense. Habitually I let difficult emotions—or avoidance of them—knock me off course, then I accomplish nothing, which only intensifies them. I hope the schedule will help me navigate.

[lilactime.livejournal.com]

Happy New Year Van!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Exactly! Same to you. :-)

I've had more energy in recent months to play around with my motivation, and see what my mind and body like to be doing when. So hopefully the new routine will be more functional than before.

[tim-e-bear.livejournal.com]

Always good to have a plan.

Now, if only I had one... :(

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Well make one. :-)

Be playful and allow lots of time for things you like to do. Don't regard it as a set-in-stone contract you have to follow, but a framework to help you accomplish things that matter to you.

[tim-e-bear.livejournal.com]

True.

The problem, of course, is that I'm reasonably good at work-related planning, etc. - it's LIFE related planning I, as it were, suck at.

[rfmcdpei.livejournal.com]

Jerry, but yes.

Ambition feels nice, doesn't it? I think I'd almost forgotten.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

At times it feels exciting, at others restless and frustrated. I'm trying to go with whatever form I get. ;-)

[rsc.livejournal.com]

Pilgrim's Cross, the complete first draft of a novel I set aside almost two years ago.

My god, has it really been almost two years? I guess it has. I'll need to read the whole thing again just to remind me of who's who.

To approach showering, eating, masturbating, sleeping and dreaming

The five food groups!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Or wait, and read the book when it comes out. ;-)

I doubt that the next draft will be published online. The first one, written quickly, gave me a good framework for the plot. This time I want to spend a lot more time playing with words. I would be happy if it took me eight months or a year. And I need to step back from the performance aspect of the first writing.

[taniwhanui.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a very good, healthy plan. Might steal some of your ideas, then twist 'em round and see if I can make 'em suit nightwork ... (:

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Good, I hope it works for you!

[taniwhanui.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Me too. (:

I've really enjoyed the photos of you and your two daughters. And your stories about them as well. They're beautiful.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thank you, very much. :-)

[winterknight.livejournal.com]

I missed this post; I'm so glad you referenced it again. I think I need to do this for myself. Thank you for the example. :)

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Did you see my post about the weekly calendar I drew up?

http://vaneramos.livejournal.com/502980.html

This is really more important than the list of things to do, because it structures my day and reminds me when I'm supposed to be doing them. And scheduling recreation and personal/spiritual time is just as important as scheduling tasks. If I don't plan the things I want to do, I'll end up doing them anyway, and then they'll disrupt and distract me from staying on track. Here is a photo of my calendar, because someone requested it:

http://vaneramos.livejournal.com/503126.html