Wading Through Life...
Party Planning has begun! At least, a party for 2! No, not that kind…I’m knee deep in planning a girls’ weekend with my daughter. At the end of the month, we will be immersing ourselves in the history, beauty, and spooky atmosphere that is Salem, MA. I’m sure y’all will hear more than you ever wanted to know about my trip. 😊 Lots of pics and musings about that in the near future.
In the meantime, I want to talk about planning and mental health. I’m not sure if its my writer's imagination or just my natural planning nature (I’m a planner girl through and through!), but the excitement is kicked up a notch when I’m planning something that’s actually fun.
Maybe this is obvious to everyone else, but for a long time I’ve been immersed in the minutiae of my weekly schedule. Chores, work schedule, appointments, and all kinds of tasks…none of it FUN.
Pssstttt…. I’m not really good at planning enjoyable things for myself. Just the details of life that need to be organized and taken care of…
But looking at the possibilities for this trip (things to do, places to eat, what we will see) and my excitement has been a big boost to my mental health. I have something to look forward to, daydream about, and enjoy the thought of.
Those things that give you that kick of excitement and energy you don’t get from the daily grind.
I’d forgotten that.
Which means I need to start planning more fun things for myself! Uh oh. I’m not a natural in this arena (see whole explanation above…). 😊
I may need some help here. What are your favorite plans to look forward to? Big ones like trips? Small ones like a date night?
I’d love to hear your suggestions!
Take care,
Dani
Haunted Heritage
It's almost time for Spooky Season! My favorite time of year. Here's one of my Secrets of Covington Corner novellas to get you in the appropriate spooky mood!
She’d prepared to be flooded in during the storm, alone…she didn’t plan on being stranded in a haunted house with him.
With an antebellum home to protect, Olivia doesn’t waste any time in her preparations. She’d promised her employer she would take care of the place while she was in the hospital. No power and no exit route is par for the course this far from town.
But her plans didn’t include a sexy PI who seems intent on digging into her employer’s every secret. Isolated by rising flood waters, Olivia can’t get away from his questions or the heated attraction he evokes. Still she can’t shake the feeling he’s hiding something.
Will the old trunk in the attic reveal a new kind of storm? Will his investigation into a long lost heir destroy the very love they’ve both been longing for? Find out HERE!
Novellas in Secrets of Covington Corner series in order:
Shadow Manor
Haunted Heritage
Dark Destiny
Holiday Storm
It Caught My Eye...
I'm so ready for Fall! It just started cooling down here in the South, but I know better than to trust it. We will have second summer soon. I'm just praying for more than 2 weeks of autumn's cool breezes before winter kicks in...
I have a confession to make: I’m not a reader.
Let me clarify: I used to be a reader. But between the day job, struggling to get words, and overwhelming stress, I lost my love of it somewhere. Every time I thought about picking up a book, I just turned away.
Then I took a class called Write Better Faster by Becca Syme in an attempt to break through my writer’s block. There I learned about my top 5 Strengths (Clifton Strengths testing). Lo and behold—all of them had to do with INPUT. Basically, my brain runs off of learning things. I have a craving for knowledge and am rejuvenated by the learning process.
Except I’d stopped that process in its tracks by not reading much at all. The occasional non-fiction book or magazine was the only exception. No wonder my brain has basically stopped working!
After taking Becca’s class, I started making an effort to read more, but it was haphazard. I would start fiction books, but not be able to finish them, no matter how interesting they were. I had better luck with non-fiction, which I could let sit for a few days, then come back to them and eventually finish. I’m not entirely sure why this was so hard, but I have a few suspicions.
I’ve started my non-fiction goal with Paused to Prolific by K Webster. This is a new release that dovetails nicely with my own focus issues. It is designed to help you “write faster, stay focused, and avoid burnout”. I found it very easy to digest because the chapters are short and tightly focused, with a “coffee break” at the end to help brainstorm ideas for taking the information and putting it into practice. Webster has a conversational, humorous style that helped me relate well to the information, and I’ll never look at a squirrel the same again!
What kind of reading goals do you set for yourself? Are they formal goals, or just lists of books you’d like to read?
Dani
Then I took a class called Write Better Faster by Becca Syme in an attempt to break through my writer’s block. There I learned about my top 5 Strengths (Clifton Strengths testing). Lo and behold—all of them had to do with INPUT. Basically, my brain runs off of learning things. I have a craving for knowledge and am rejuvenated by the learning process.
Except I’d stopped that process in its tracks by not reading much at all. The occasional non-fiction book or magazine was the only exception. No wonder my brain has basically stopped working!
After taking Becca’s class, I started making an effort to read more, but it was haphazard. I would start fiction books, but not be able to finish them, no matter how interesting they were. I had better luck with non-fiction, which I could let sit for a few days, then come back to them and eventually finish. I’m not entirely sure why this was so hard, but I have a few suspicions.
- The issues going on in my brain related to the writer’s block made it extremely difficult to focus. What little “focus power” I had went to my day job and writing tasks, so there wasn’t much left for something I viewed as less important: the reading (boy, did I have that backwards).
- There is an idea I’ve been dedicated to for years: refilling the well. But until this very stressful time, I didn’t put it into practice with as much dedication as I should have. Then again, I didn’t know that part of what I needed to fill that well was knowledge! We often think of refilling our wells, or “self-care”, as things like taking baths and having our nails done. But our strengths give us certain needs that, when fulfilled, renew our energy and our enthusiasm far faster than anything else could. I’ve experienced this first hand!
I’ve started my non-fiction goal with Paused to Prolific by K Webster. This is a new release that dovetails nicely with my own focus issues. It is designed to help you “write faster, stay focused, and avoid burnout”. I found it very easy to digest because the chapters are short and tightly focused, with a “coffee break” at the end to help brainstorm ideas for taking the information and putting it into practice. Webster has a conversational, humorous style that helped me relate well to the information, and I’ll never look at a squirrel the same again!
What kind of reading goals do you set for yourself? Are they formal goals, or just lists of books you’d like to read?
Dani