The July challenge ends today, and I wish to say thank you to Paul and to those who commented on my infrequent posts. You all gave me ideas and encouragement for my “next-up-to-write-projects.”
Between now and the next challenge I plan to tackle at least two of my current ideas and put them into a series of books. I’ll let you all know how that goes… right now I have the ideas and the motivation!!
I’ll be unleashing my words to the universe – or at least to Kindle.
For starters, I’m finishing the one I call ” How to write when you don’t feel like writing” and the one after that will be on lifespan psychology with a focus on healthy aging or living with a nonlinear brain or dealing with stress or …. or …..
The indoor gardening one needs to start this Fall so I can take photos of what I am doing – that has its own agenda….it can be a follow-along series of books documenting my own process.
And of course, I need to leave time for any other topics that come to mind as I work on these!
For a few days now, I’ve been trying to get myself to sit and write a post – knowing that that never works to motivate me….
The writing motivation was elsewhere, which is good because it’s those other places that I have been working on this year and plugging away at posting on my blog is something I tend to only do when I sign up for this challenge – and even then I sometimes let the whole challenge month go by without writing.
This time around I’ve written more than my usual amount because I’ve been willing to sit here and write about why I don’t feel like writing and decide that’s one of the books I’m working on – how to motivate yourself when you don’t feel like writing… Of course that book doesn’t really get done except in spirits because it’s about the issue of not writing
But probably to distract myself from thinking about why I’m not writing anything, I got motivated to think about psychology. It’s my field. I’ve published several textbooks – I’ve written a lot of articles about it, and I have taught many courses on different aspects of psychology and especially about lifespan development – so I decided to start thinking about writing more psychology books and I spent hours working on that.
It felt good – but that’s not posting here – yet both of those happenings felt OK.
Like in the image at the top, all those writing choices are the correct choices!!
However I look at it it’s a win-win for me!! It got me sitting and writing this, which will keep me going for a bit later today – and again during the week.
No – I am not about to punch my monitor, but I am so frustrated with the theme have been using for years. I used to love the theme, but then the company got sold, which is a modern thing that happens, and like many of the things that I was with for a while when they get sold – annoying things happen.
For a while I wasn’t having too much of an issue with it but of late I am – and so I think I am canceling my subscription.
What I’m using today is actually a free WordPress developed theme. We’ll see how that works.
I was always into modern technology. As a kid I wanted that Dick Tracy watch – I probably had a toy watch that I could talk to and do all those things with – now I don’t have a toy.
I now have a smartwatch. And yes, I can actually talk on it!!
And my phone? I rarely use it for phone calls but if I want to, I can see people on it when I talk to them – just like the old science fiction comic books, watches, and phones.
The first computer I actually had anything to do with was [I’m guessing] an IBM that took up a whole basement of a building in Boston and I was working with one of my grad school professors helping do the data analysis for one of his research projects.
Someone did the key punching. I don’t type so I would never offer to do that, but then the punched cards were fed into this huge machine, which did “stuff” with them. Somebody else programmed the computer and then at the other end after some amount of time, reams of green computer paper came spewing out of the computer and it was my job to do something with all of the info coming out of the computer.
I laugh now because I used to be very good at math and data analysis and now we have programs that give you all the answers. You don’t have to use your brain much anymore.
And that’s my love/hate situation with technology. I am at the point in my life where I no longer want to do all of the basic stuff myself. I don’t want to code. I don’t want to go under the hood and have to figure out all the things about making it work. I guess the saying is: been there done that.
It’s like with cars. I used to know how to work on engines because my father insisted I know how to do that before I was allowed to take the car out on my own – because he knew that I would be driving places where I wasn’t going to be near service stations. So I could do a lot of basic engine work. I’ve had cars as a grown-up that needed things done that I could do.
Now? I take it to the service station because it’s all computerized and I won’t fiddle with them anymore.
So I don’t hate technology. I’ve always loved it. I just hate when it doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do, but that’s more me than the technology. One thing I’ve learned since I started fiddling around with computers is that they have times they don’t do what they’re supposed to do, but then neither do people. [I do have a Ph.D. in Psychology.]
I’ve learned what happens in those times is I take a break: from the people, from the computers, from the cars, etc – and now I’m going to go out and play in my garden because for me, that’s a good break from technology.
In the past few years, I have learned that I get more done when I work on an every-other-day basis for the heavy-lifting type of “stuff”.
Yesterday I spent a lot of time on the how to write when you don’t feel like writing book… And I do need to think of a shorter title or a more appropriate title.
I did some outlining and thinking about this as a series of books. Each book would be complete unto itself so that you don’t need a whole big book if you’re only interested in one aspect of solving the problem.
I outlined 2 chapters but I wasn’t happy with those… so I took a break and worked on prompt ideas and what I’m calling “asides” which is where I make commentary on some of what I’m writing about – almost like an alter ego for the person reading it. I’m thinking of what to call that and what it could look like as an avatar…..
I was reminded of when I was a therapist, and some of my clients said before they’d start to do something stupid their head would go “I wonder what Lynn would say about this” and then they would not do it because they knew they knew how THAT conversation would go!
I’ve said before that very often when I want to write, I often start with images and that’s what happened with the avatar. I began to play with the idea of what an avatar could look like – it could help me ultimately think of what I’m going to call it – or the other way around – if I find a picture, I like then I may know what to call the avatar.
I’m moving at the literal snails pace, although I sometimes think the snails are faster than me.
Slowly – day by day – I am getting things done for the upcoming “how to write a book when you don’t feel like writing” book. It will have a better title than that, but I’ve been thinking through some ideas like maybe including worksheets or prompts or somethings that work for me and hopefully work for you and/or don’t work for me but might work for you.
I’m enjoying the thinking process, but that’s me.
I always enjoy the thinking process.
It’s the get it down on the computer process that’s hard for me.
And while all this is going on, we had another heat wave along very dangerously dirty air. I got used to dirty air when I lived in Portland, Oregon. Certainly isn’t fun when you’re subjected to the smoky air, but I feel worse for the people up in Canada where the smoke is coming from because they’re losing everything.
Hopefully, we will have a lot of rain soon, which will help slow the fires and clear up the air.
These images reflect my daily routine, the first 2 cups of coffee come with something in them. I guess they are called bulletproof coffee. I change what I put in them, but there’s always something good in there – but not milk.
Then I exercise. It used to mostly be yoga or a HIIT exercise or something like that, but I got this vibration plate about a month ago and I’m loving it – so that has become my morning go to exercise and I’ll explain why after I do the 3rd cup of coffee, which comes with nothing in it – just black and that is followed by go out and play with dog time. [We’ve already been out a couple of times by now, but that’s just to do her morning constitutional.]
I got into this routine many years ago and it seemed to work then but I got away from it and now I’m back to it. I’m trying to remember things that used to work for me. I got a little off kilter when I did this last move, but I figured it’s time to get back to what used to work.
Until I got the vibration plate, I had been doing my usual yoga, HIIT, Pilates and things like that. I still do those, but they’re not part of the morning routine anymore. The vibration plate has replaced the between the coffees morning exercise.
Of course, this doesn’t happen on days where I have to get out the door within an hour or two of getting up – unless it’s summer when I get up early. I’m a light/dark sleeper. If the sun is shining, I’m usually up which means in the summer I am up earlier than in the winter.
Back to the vibration plate. I’ve seen these online with what I considered “influencers” yammering about them and my thought was oh yeah, right and I would scroll by it, but then I saw something that sounded more legitimate than an influencer, and I started reading about them and decided to get one.
Being a long time Costco member my first look was at Costco and no they don’t have them at my store. I don’t think they have them at any stores that I’ve seen, but they had one online. And I figured if I don’t like it it’s a quick drive to Costco to take it back – anyway it came very quickly and I’ve been using it ever since it.
I won’t go into all of what I like about it because I’m one of these people who thinks results vary. I know people who hate these. I know people who love them.
What it has done for me, it may not do for you, but I am very happy with the way I feel. I have more energy. My flexibility has improved, and I am actually doing more of the other exercises over the day!
I have a smart watch which measures many functions – and every one of those is moving in the direction that is considered good health. I’m healthy to begin with, but my watch is telling me I’m getting healthier.
I’ve worked out my own vibration plate routine – as I said I do it every day between coffee cup two and three, but I change what I do every day and I’m still learning it – and nope – I haven’t cranked it up to its fastest paces.
And by the way, that’s my almost 14 year-old lab. I’ve never had a dog get this old – so not only am I learning about my own aging. I’m learning about her aging.
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