I'm Doing This

I feel like I should get a medal for surviving the past two months. October was hell, always is. I was out of town every weekend and I don't think I made it to the grocery store all month. I barely had time to think, much less exercise or read a book.

And then I got this crazy whim on November 2 and decided to do NaNoWriMo. Now I've won it two years in a row. That also means I spent all of November cramming 2000 words of original work into my available spare time every single day. I finished a few days early, and I'm happy with what I got for a first draft.

But now that's over. It's December. FREEDOM!!!

Which is to say, I want to go forward and focus on living intentionally. I know I can't do absolutely everything I want to, but I can map out my lifestyle in a way that moves me closer to achieving goals. Here are the things I want to focus on:

Exercise/athletic:
Goal: I want to be strong and flexible. I want to feel good about making progress in this area.
1) I want to get back into the regular habit of running, 3-4 days a week. My dogs need the exercise and I need the fitness.
2) I want to improve my core strength through targeted exercises. Again, I can take a few minutes 3-4 days a week and do Pilates exercises.

Intellectual/creative:
Goal: I want to nurture a mind that is quick and inventive. I want to engage the people around me and challenge them to think.
1) I want to read a book a month. I love reading and have a beautiful library, so it's just a matter of making time.
2) I want to actually publish my writing. I have a fourth draft almost ready to go and I'm working hard on making a second draft out of my latest effort. I can't do everything all the time, so I want to spend an hour on this, 3-4 days a week.

Home/Cooking:
Goal: I want to maintain a clean home in which Brent and I are comfortable living and entertaining on our budget.
1) Take one day a week completely away from the barn to clean, do laundry, and make the house a home.
2) Explore new recipes in the kitchen. Brent thrives on variety and I do like cooking, so try to make one new  or expanded meal a week, whether that's a whole new recipe or means putting in the extra effort for side dishes and salads.

That's a start, at least. I'm trying to keep my goals manageable and see how things go for a couple of months. I'm excited for this phase of life and looking forward to seeing what I can accomplish.

Writing On

In something of a spur-of-the-moment decision, I ended up doing NaNoWriMo again this year. Last year, I started writing on November first and wrote 100k words in four months. I have a somewhat-polished 4th draft out with an editor now from that experience.

I quit writing over the spring and summer. My life was out of control. Work was beyond stressful, haunting me awake and asleep. My beloved horse had health problems that forced him into retirement and I quit my job. I thought about writing again, but I don't always write well from a place of turmoil and angst.

I'd been kicking around a plot idea and playing with some characters, but I was missing some critical elements and I didn't want to start something without those in place.

And then I had a dream. It tied all the pieces together. I started writing on November 2nd this year and I'm on track to finish the 50k a solid week early. I write 2-3 thousand words a day, sometimes more on the weekends. Last year was hard--by the time I hit my daily word count, I felt like I had no words left.

Not so this round. My pacing is much more solid, my plot more developed. I'm writing a thousand words an hour on average and I'm just hitting my stride. I find that the more I write, the more I want to write. I'm not just writing a story. Now I'm writing blogs, emails, and anything else I can think of. The words are flowing and the well hasn't run dry. Not yet.

I'll finish NaNo, but that's not the goal this year. I want to have another 70-80k second draft done by 12/31/13. Just watch me.

Grind It Out

I'm working on polishing up the latest draft of my attempt at writing a full-blown book. I don't think of myself as an anxious person, but this thing is driving me batty. I've gotten some decent feedback on it the few times I've sent it out to be read, but I do long stretches of editing in between.

Just me and the text.

I'm constantly looking for errors, tweaking for improvements, criticizing my every weakness.

The only thing that makes me feel more incompetent than critiquing myself is the horrifying process of waiting for feedback from someone else.

It's like overachiever hell. 

Influence

I'm a shy introvert at heart. I don't like asking for things for myself and I don't like speaking up in public. I've been working hard to become stronger in those areas because I reject the mindset that woman are wilting heroines straight out of Victorian literature.

I was raised in a social subset that tried to teach that women were subservient objects, only good for reproducing and cooking, not thinking or talking or (heaven forbid!) learning and working. I'm forever thankful that my reactionary mother revolted against those notions and that my dad supported her, because it made it that much easier for me to break the mold.

Now I set as role models women who are educated, hard working, assertive, and confident. They know what they want and go after it, regardless of set backs. I've started to learn that what looks like confidence is really more the strength to push through their insecurities.

Throughout this process, I've been reading. This article and this article, talking about how women consent and assent without standing up for themselves are what I've come across recently. I think these women are addressing timely and pertinent issues, especially as they relate to the culture I come out of. (I can go on and on about Victoriana vs a realistic model for women, but that's another post for another day).

Regardless. It inspired me. I may never be famous or influential on a regional or national scene, but I can wield what influence I have in my own sphere. Instead of thinking my gender is some sort of tragic accident that keeps me from having opinions or value to my culture, I can step forward with Eowyn and say, "I am no man."

It's not a flaw. It's a strength.

I'm working on polishing up a manuscript I hope to submit to be published. It features a strong female character finding her way in life. I want her to be the first of a lineup of heroines that I write. They can be different--shy, outgoing, happy, melancholy, brave, fearful, but throughout, I want them to be women to respect. Women who set a standard for what we can become.

Women like those who surround and inspire me on a daily basis.