On this episode, I walk through my daily affirmation writing process and how it helps me a) orient my mindset for the day and b) envision and work toward big-picture goals.
Resources mentioned on this episode:
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Change is hard. In this episode, I explore five ways to make it easier, and the resources that have helped me get more comfortable navigating change.
Discussed on this episode:
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In this episode, I talk about how developing consistent, daily habits has changed my life for the better. I cover:
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Find the episode on all podcast platforms here.
I try to do Dry January every year, but last year I extended it to mid March and discovered that I was able to completely skip over my usual Seasonal Affective Disorder. I’d like this to be become my new annual tradition.
Bonus that even moderate alcohol use causes brain damage, and the only way to reverse it is through 2-6 months of total sobriety (source: Huberman Lab podcast).
I use Headspace but whatever you’ll stick with is good. This is the first time meditation has felt easy for me. I’m only doing 5 minutes a day to start and will work my way up. Walking meditation counts!
Working on a friendship bracelet, making alcohol-ink art, posting something on Instagram—even the smallest creative tasks count. The other night I made a lanyard while watching The Mentalist.
I injured myself six weeks ago and am just getting back into my daily workout classes. When I don’t feel up to a class, I take a walk outside
I use one for daily affirmation writing + general thoughts and reflection (a Muji notebook that costs like $3.50; have used and replaced this for years) and another for goal setting (the Lavendaire Artist of Life Workbook—this is the third year I’ve bought this)
This usually takes a lot of energy for me, but I find that when I’m not drinking alcohol my life feels slower and quieter and therefore more restful, so I have more social energy for people outside of my inner circle.
I haven’t signed into my Twitter account since June 4. “I need to be on Twitter” is one of the stories I’m testing out during my #40StoriesProject, a yearlong attempt to learn which of the things I’m telling myself are outdated. The plan for this particular story was to stay off Twitter for three months, but having hit that milestone a few days ago, I don’t see myself going back. I was better informed when I was doomscrolling every day, but about what? If I want to know what’s happening in the world, I get the important stories elsewhere—newspapers, texts from friends, even Instagram. I don’t miss being extremely online, and my reduced exposure to, well, everything has freed up a lot of space and energy, which I’m putting toward personal projects after a lengthy creative drought during the pandemic. Even the alleged value of Twitter for someone interested in a writing career seems largely negated by how bad being on Twitter makes me feel about writers and writing.
Continue reading “How to quit”
Over the past year and a half, I’ve written 554 pages of fiction across three in-progress novels. Great, NBD. The writing is the easy part, for me. But when it’s time to do something with the stuff I’ve written, I freeze.
This is a big part of the reason I signed up for Tiffany Han’s #100rejectionletters, the live portion of which ended last week. The goal is to get 100 rejections, each of which will be represented by a gold star sticker on the chart Tiffany sent us. And after four weeks of planning and preparing, it’s time to start racking up some gold stars.
Continue reading “#100rejectionletters”
I’ve been struggling to write lately because I have this idea that anything I write here has to relate to my blog’s title. And the things I need to write about lately aren’t so spiritual. I’ve been struggling to understand myself better, which is always my goal, but specifically so I can figure out what I want in a partner.
Continue reading “My only constant is perpetual growth”
I wrote this at the end of January, then didn’t publish it. It still feels relevant, so I’m sharing it now. Sometimes you can accomplish a lot and have it feel like nothing. I know this intellectually; it’s part of why I’ve worked so hard to untether my sense of self-worth from external accomplishments. But when you expect to feel something, and you don’t, it can feel like a letdown regardless of what you know to be true.
I got a lot done this month. As of this writing, I’m 44,000 words into a novel I started writing on January 1. This is the ninth blog post I’ve published. I’ve studied French 26 days in a row. I’ve meditated every day of 2019. I’ve recorded six podcast episodes.
Amid all of this, I was bored. I was exhausted. I felt disconnected from other people, but also like connection wasn’t something I particularly wanted at this juncture. I went back and forth on whether I actually want the thing I keep claiming I want. (I still don’t know.) I resented everyone, myself included. I either started work at 6 a.m. (work work, the kind I get paid for), or I couldn’t get out of bed until 9.
I spent a lot of time wondering what the point is of all of this. Life, on a macro level. My creative work, on a micro level. Even my death-reminder app failed to make me feel more alive.
Then there were the deals I didn’t keep. Things I was supposed to leave in 2018 but didn’t. Dry January cut short on the 27th, when I realized my life had no balance. The yoga I stopped practicing somewhere around January 7. The half marathon I decided not to run. Eating dairy again and getting no joy out of it, just congestion. Consuming things — food, wine, affection — like they’ll eventually fill me up.
Nothing sounds good to me right now. Nothing sounds fun. Everything feels capable of being divested.
So let’s try a different month.
Seems like everyone’s worried about how much time they’re spending on their phones. Even my productivity boyfriend Cal Newport decided to focus his new book, Digital Minimalism, on how to use personal technology “to support your goals and values, rather than letting it use you.”
Continue reading “How to give your phone a makeover”
I’ve mentioned before that I’m three months into a yearlong creativity course: the Raise Your Hand Say Yes Inner Circle with Tiffany Han. Our group discussion the other day turned to how to push past self-created drama to actually do the work. I shared some thoughts in our private group on Mighty Networks, but wanted to share them here as well. Here are three ways to shake off doubt, fear, anxiety, whatever to get your work done:
Continue reading “How to get out of your own way and do the work”
How to Be Creative 