I’m building a new blog. Silly perhaps, considering how much love this blog has been missing.
I’ve struggled with the purpose of this blog for quite some time. Originally, I wrote for me, and to keep friends and family updated on the stuff happening in my life. But lately I’ve wanted to write to serve a purpose other than my own vanity.
I haven’t decided what to do with Noodle-Doodle. I have a lot of history here, so it makes some sense to move everything over to the new blog. On the other hand, my new blog is going to be more focused, so maybe I’ll only move over the relevant stuff. For now, Noodle-Doodle is staying around, if for nothing other than my own vanity.
Day one of NaNoWriMo 2009. My region had a group WriteIn for eight hours, and I was there for almost the entire eight. And my word count? Pretty abysmal for eight hours, but still over my daily goal.
Here’s hoping day 2 is more productive.
A week before Labor Day, I decided to return to school. This time around, I have a plan! And really, I feel pretty good about it. I mean, I don’t usually go to school with a plan. But being able to see the path I need to follow to reach this… dare I say, GOAL… fills me with content.
Going back to school got me excited about change in general, so I started looking for a part time job. Money is always a little tight for us this time of year with Rob being the Breadwinner and me being the… well, Me. My hope was to earn money just to pay for my tuition, but now I’m starting to look forward to the working part of working.
I’ve also signed up to participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) this year. The goal is to write a 50k word novel in 30 days. That sounded like a lot when I first heard it, but when I learned the breakdown to 1,666 words per day, it seems pretty doable. My goal here is really just to get into a habit of writing daily. Wouldn’t it be nice if I could somehow turn that into getting back to daily exercise? The thought of being busy again makes me happy. I always wonder if some of my, er, issues have to do with boredom. I’m sure I’ve posted about that before.
I’ll try to keep an update of my word count here once I get started.
Exercise
My new exercise program is going well. After walking daily for three weeks or so, I felt the desire to push my body a little harder. I joined the local gym on a monthly basis. That way, if I end up hating it or not using it, I’ve only lost $40. But so far, I’ve kept up with my workouts and I’m seeing small improvements to my health.
Cleaning
With the exercise going so well, I felt motivated to tackle getting my home organized. I missed spring cleaning, so we’re doing it in August this year. I decluttered and reorganized my office. Rob is working on the garage and basement. Then it’s garage sale time. Neither of us feels like running the “retail” end of the garage sale, so we’ve bribed my mom with part of the profits and Rob’s cooking.
Business
My home isn’t the only getting decluttered this month. I’m taking a good hard look at my business and making some difficult decisions about what’s working and what needs to go. My head has already decided what’s best, but my heart is slow to follow. I’m eager to work with my new business coach to see if she can help me work through some of these issues I’m having with indecision.
Personal
I feel great. My mood has been very stable. I’m managing my fatigue well on most days. I’m reconnected with old high school friends, and feeling a little nostalgic. I’m looking forward to my 20 year class reunion in two weeks. I’m moving forward after feeling stagnate for so very long.
Tagged as:
Biz Buzz,
Coping with Chronic Fatigue
Exercise
I started walking/running again last week. In the past, I’ve started exercise programs for my body. This time, I’m exercising for my physical and mental health. Let me just say, I hate walking/running. I think it’s the most boring exercise on the planet. This is why I can’t keep it up for more than a few days.
I’m using running meditation music now, and it’s made a huge impact on my motivation. I’ve mentioned before my fascination with brain wave technology. Running Meditation by Kelly Howell gets my mind to wander while I walk. I don’t think about the walking.
Vitamins
In April, I saw an alternative health specialist for my chronic fatigue and other annoying symptoms. He started me on supplements to improve liver function. The following month, he started me on vitamin b to stabilize my mood swings and blood sugar.
Since starting, I’ve seen an enormous improvement to my health in general. I lost a little weight, my ankles aren’t swelling, my tongue isn’t coated, my mood is swinging less, and my blood sugar doesn’t drop. Yay!
However, my fatigue is at an all time high. I’ve had to really push myself to get out and walk this past week. I had to push myself to sit here and write today.
I often talk about how I worry my fatigue is really just a sign of laziness. Right now, I know full well the fatigue I’m feeling is very real.
Today, I got fed up.
I’m tired of making excuses.
I’m tired of thinking and planning.
I’m tired of waiting for something to happen.
I’m tired of putting things off.
I’m tired of waiting until I have more knowledge/energy/experience/money/ideas.
Today, I did something. It was a small something, but it felt good. Best of all, it put me in a doing-something frame of mind.
I spent the weekend in South Carolina for my cousin Ryan’s wedding. The women of SC are beautiful and gracious and I see why they’re called southern belles.
The weather? Little too hot and humid for me, though to be fair, it’s unseasonably hot and humid in Michigan right now too.
I enjoyed a lot of time with my cousin Rani (yay!) and a little time with some of my other cousins. Of all the cousins, I fall right in the middle of the age range. There are seven who are older than me, and six who are younger than me. As a kid, it used to bother me that I was the cut-off person for the kids’ table. Seeing them as adults makes me glad I was at the kids’ table.
I’m overwhelmed with pride and love for all of them. It was especially fun to see the boys now as men. I mean, they’ve been adults for years now, but I got a different perspective this weekend. I felt very secure knowing these strong and confident men, all 9+ years younger than me, were looking out for my well-being. It was also fun to see the girls throwing themselves at these same handsome and charismatic cousins.
My Aunt Sharon, mother of the groom, put together some photo albums of the extended family. It was a lot of fun seeing pictures of my dad as a young man.
As out-of-town guests, we were invited to the rehearsal dinner. It was the best Chinese food ever. My Aunt Sharon seated my dad and my Uncle Gordon at the heads of the Lee table. I was touched to learn my dad had been seated in a place of honor that years ago would have been occupied by my late Great Grandmother.
The wedding was lovely, but it’s the memories of spending time with my family that will stick with me the most.
Wednesday left me feeling a bit… eh.
It was good ol’ self-doubt again.
Having discovered my thing—my new wonderful thing—has energized me. But what about my other thing? I’m not quite ready to abandon it yet, but my heart isn’t in it right now.
Feeling pulled in two directions, I called my #1 Fan on Thursday for some guidance. She helped me find some clarity and I helped her find her thing. Win-win.
Today, it’s raining.
I’m not talking about the weather. My first thing is growing despite my passiveness. People are interested. They want to know more.
I’m not sure how I feel about this little burst.
My new thing is on the verge of something big. I’m connecting with people in ways which are very new to me. These seemingly small connections are turning into giant opportunities.
I feel eager, yet unprepared. I feel excitement and worry. I feel like I want to dance. Or vomit.
I started a new business. Yes. This is where I have been the past two weeks. I have been venturing outside my comfort zone and meeting new people. My twitter contacts have doubled, though I’m still not tweeting smartly.
In two weeks, I’ve grown a lot. My attitude has changed. My confidence has improved. When I say, “I started a new business this week” I do so without hesitation. It wasn’t like this when I started my jewelry biz. I always struggled with feeling like a wannabe. This time, I feel like the expert.
The new biz is Craft E Templates, though I’m still playing around with the name. I tend to prefer fun names over descriptive names. I build starter websites for crafters, and provide business tips and ideas to new craft businesses.
Perfect fit for me, right?
In PoppyFish news, I was contacted by a local shop who wants to carry my jewelry line. I’ve been dragging my feet on designing new stuff. Since I emerged from my unhappy place several months ago, my jewelry has become very personal.
I still want to make jewelry. I’m just not as eager to sell my jewelry as I once was. It feels a little like selling pieces of myself.
This isn’t a new idea, selling pieces of myself. It’s been said by countless artists before me. But now that I’m in this place, I can fully appreciate the sentiment. I’m not so sure I’m okay letting strangers own pieces of me.
My jewelry has always been for me, I think. I create it because it makes me happy. And even though other people are wearing my jewelry, I feel a little isolated from the experience.
My new business is all about helping other people do their thing. There’s a connection between what I do and what they do. I find that satisfying.
This is the first time I’ve felt sentimental about my art. Always, it was the process of creating that energized me. The fate of the final product was of no concern to me. And I say this about all my art, not just my jewelry.
Will my feelings change? I don’t know. I’m not ready to make any decisions about the fate of my jewelry business right now, so I’m not actively seeking new wholesale account at this time. My plan is to sustain my jewelry business while I grow my new one.
This week, I built blog templates. I realize it’s strange for someone who has difficulty keeping up writing blog posts with any sort of regularity to be obsessed with building new blogs. I am a little obsessed though. This brings my count up to six sites. The silly part is that the new sites have no content. They’re just designs and ideas right now. Story of my life, right?
