Let me explain. I have always been a workaholic. Thinking “work comes before play”--which of course means I rarely stop to play. Other than those wind-down moments before sleeping at night. Of course, I'm a book lover and movie addict, so what looks like play in these areas, I have labeled "research" or "study of an author's process." So maybe it looks like I play more than stated here, but that's because I'm in such a cool career.
To say I have now taken my condition and multiplied it by three would still not adequately correspond the depth of that bulls-eye viewpoint and the height of its fancy.
In one way, it is totally directed on my new career: as an author. Fiction and nonfiction, but primarily fiction. Even though my first two works out in e-book format are nonfiction. Yet that footstep into one future part of my whole unknown has unleashed so many other tentative inclinations in other areas. Success begets more success, no matter where that specific success is found in the pie chart called Life.
Examples of my success-oriented thinking involve:
My house. REALLY getting it organized. Taking itty-bitty baby steps there, for I wear three hats (author, copy editor and daytime jobber), but any progress is a milestone within my limited “off from work” time frame. Making a list of all the repairs and improvements it needs, inside and out. Not a wish list, mind you, but a written To Do reminder. Like it’s really gonna happen. Because it is.
My looks. I’m not a fashion maven and my makeup leans to the natural look. So for me to focus on hair, eyeshadow and blush, plus new clothes is out of my usual spectrum—especially with the career shift and simultaneous change in earnings. But in the back of my mind, THIS YEAR, I am considering a haircut that I didn’t give myself, girly yet casual dresses (think French), painted nails, taking the time to don jewelry.
Menu plan. I don’t think I’ve ever done that consistently. Not even sporadic attempts, other than a few vacations spent at home where I wanted to play around with cooking. Now I am so much more attuned to seasonal fruits and veggies, to what I am craving, to the local Farmers’ Market. You can add grateful and thankful, too.
Sunshine. Outdoors. Since I am both an author and a freelance copy editor for one major NYC publishing house, you can imagine how comfortable I am being indoors reading (or writing). My gift to myself is spending at least fifteen minutes outside in the sunshine daily, other than the weekly (sparse) lawn maintenance. Besides the Vitamin D it gives me, I believe there are undiscovered emotional and physical benefits as well. Not to mention other presents Mother Nature bestows on us: dirt, grass, flowers, trees, butterflies, etc. I read somewhere that people exposed to large animals (horses, for one example) are healthier than the rest of us. Just from my limited experience of being around horse people at the traditional workplaces, I can confirm that they didn’t get sick whereas I did. And I consider myself very healthy.
Learning New Things. I want to be fluent in French and Italian. I would love to take a layman’s cooking class, as compared to one to teach me to become a chef. I can think at this present moment of seven areas in which I would love to earn a degree: French, Italian, Creative Writing, Philosophy, Seminary (not to become a member of the clergy but for the sheer knowledge of it), Architecture, Gardening. That didn’t touch on my love of painting or cooking or my long-term desire to make my own quilt(s).
This year is my quantum year. Everything is multiplied this year. Good or bad. So shoot for the BEST, for it will be compounded. I wish this for you.
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