Tag: human interest

  • Tis The Ides Of July

    I know, we never use the term ides except to talk about the Ides of March, but it means the 15th of several months, including July. So I decided to make a graphic because I couldn’t find one that did this. 

    I’m having trouble writing, but I can play with images.

    And one of the things I’ve learned over time is that if I play with enough images or download ones that speak to me – they do something in my head that helps me write.

    For those of you who have trouble writing sometimes maybe this is something you could try. In fact when I get around to writing that book about having trouble writing, I am going to put this in for a suggestion.

    Another thing I used to do and the challenge is helping with that is when I was supposed to be writing my thesis, and that was a long time ago, I had the issue of not being able to sit and write it.

    Everything was done except the writing – so I sat at a friend’s typewriter in her office late at night and I typed something like Mary had a little lamb on line after line after line and after a time of doing that words started to flow that had something to do with my thesis, which was psychology and a research project I had done. I finished the thesis and I got my PhD – so it worked.

    That’s what this challenge reminds me of – I’m trying to put words on a page almost every day whether they’re published here or they are texts to a friend of mine about why I’m not writing. I am trying to put words out every day just like I typed Mary had a little lamb because I know from past experience that sooner or later the book about not wanting to write a book is going to get done.

    And when I think about it, I have now written about two behaviors that one can do to start writing. Yay – I got two parts of the book done!!

    that calls for another image!

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  • Happy HOT Saturday

    It’s been hot – very hot- record-breaking hot!

    I am in an air-conditioned space but do go out to do things – and it’s brutal out there – or it was until a major storm went through!!

    I’m trying to stick with this challenge. I actually got some book ideas done sitting in a coffee shop yesterday and today was a day of fun with friends who came over – but we had to spend the day inside.

    Tomorrow I am meeting with my friend/accountability partner again, and we are going to start the books that we spent time talking about at the coffee shop.

    I also figured out what the major problems was with my website and it’s one of the theme plug-ins that I use – a paid one – and I am really miffed at the changes that have happened since the guy who developed it sold it – so I’m not using all of it right now and I probably will cancel my subscription – I’m at the point where I don’t feel like playing with the technology part.

    I wanna get the writing done.

    To be continued……

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  • Finding That Perfect Brain Time

    Hmmmm Is there a perfect brain time?

    As part of the ongoing blog challenge, and honestly part of my almost every day personal/business challenge, is making a specific time to work only on a specific goal – usually part of a long-range goal. I do that during the day but I don’t have a specific time, it is more random from day to day and therefore on many days I let other things get in the way and then all of a sudden it’s time to go to bed and it’s the next day and I haven’t done the one or two things I know I need to do to keep working towards a specific goal. Another part of my problem is that my goal[s] tends to vary from day today – that’s me and that something I’m working on.

    But, and this is good for me, as part of the challenge today I am to figure out a 15 to 20 minute part of the day where I will work on my goals. Only 20 minutes or 15 minutes? I think I can figure out what times of the day that can happen and happen daily.

    Puppy Energy

     I’ve done something like this before and I know it works. But me, being me, stops using tactics like this after I finish one major project and I get into other stuff and then get off track again. So what I am going to do is go back to what I know worked before. That is to start my day with my coffee and my first 20 or 25 of focused activity. Given that I have a dog and I eat and I drink more coffee I will take a break after that 25 minutes and have breakfast. I will also have more coffee and then take the dog for her morning stroll. Then I shall come back and do another 20 minutes or 25 minutes. I know I work better with breaks so that will be session number two and I will take a break after that and do fun type stuff. Then I will come back and do another 20 or 25 minutes of work.

     I know my best work hours are between 9 AM and 1 PM so I shall do these 20 or 25 minutes segments in that period of time and not try to push myself past that 1 PM timeframe. I may do yoga in between some of the 25-minute work sessions because I also think yoga helps me get my mind back on track. It certainly keeps my body feeling better.

    What I will do that is a bit different than what I have done in the past is to spend the first part of the first 20 minutes session prioritizing what it is I am going to be doing that day. When I tried making myself a priority list the night before I forget about it – it’s written down and my brain considers it done. So I have to get back to prioritizing my day after I am awake and while I’m having my coffee.

    As it is now mid afternoon and I’m still on a roll I may get some of my focused work done today even though it’s past my usual work hour. Part of what I’m also working on is the ability to refocus at different times of the day or night.

    Thoughts? Ideas? Comments? Thank you!!

    This blog post is in response to Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 5

  • My Vision For Me – and Maybe You?

    This blog post is in response to Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 3Mt. Hood

    I am already living in a place that I had a vision about many years ago. That’s why I moved here. I love living near water and now I live ON the water. I actually float in a house on a large river so I have water on all sides. But my vision that got me here also had an important caveat and that was a promise to myself that I would live in the area of a fairly large city for the rest of my life. Having tried living in the country a couple of times in my life I have found that I am a genetic city person and thus I will stay in a city. Luckily for both versions the water and the house or totally within the boundary of a pretty large city. So I can have the quietness of a river. I can sit and look at the water or go kayaking, but if I want, I can hop on a train, bus, or car and be downtown in a very short time. I have found my perfect place to live.

    So for this challenge, I have a different sort of vision because I no longer need to find the perfect place to live. What I need to do now is make the place into ideas that I have for it. And me.

    When I get up in the morning the first thing I envision doing – and do – is let the dog and cat out. There’s no getting around that. Doesn’t matter if it’s what I want to do or not it’s with the cat and dog want to do. Then I make coffee and while the water is boiling I have a glass of warm water with lemon in it. I have the coffee and I also do a lot of intensive stretching because I’ve discovered that all the exercise I do tightens calf and foot muscles and as I’ve gotten older I need to do more stretching to keep flexible. I do about 20 minutes of yoga and then have breakfast. Sometimes a simple smoothie, sometimes a more complicated meal.

     Morning is the above because that won’t change but I envision my house being very different. I see the space having all the the internal walls removed and having it be one light filled open space with a butcher block counter. By the way, my house is very small. I downsized when I moved out west. And a way to have more space is to remove the few internal walls that now exist and have that island that I can eat at and use for parties, etc. Then I can get rid of the table that now serves as both desk and eating space. 

     Also in my vision is a brand new Subaru Impreza. I’m old enough now that the car will last me the rest of either my life or my driving life.

    my next car

    Another part of my vision includes new skis, boots, and poles and my vision often includes a cabin up in the mountains so that I don’t have to get up so early to go skiing.

    How will I reach this vision?  I intend to become the go-to expert on healthy aging. And that’s where you, the readers come in, please let me know what questions you might have about your aging. I’ve written about aging before and I will continue doing so – but I’m envisioning doing the research that I have put off and procrastinated about and when it is done hopefully we will all know how to live healthier, longer, more prosperous, and happier lives – filled with the visions that we want for ourselves. I will be continuing on this line of thought for a while and you will hear about it.

    Comments? Thoughts? Thank you!!

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