In Winter Enjoy

In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy. ~William Blake

Yesterday, I met with my fabulous group of writer women.  It was a perfect chance to laugh and look at what we've done in the past month, plan what we want to do in the coming month, and generally get grounded and filled with inspiration all at once. 

One of the things we do each time we meet is set intentions for the coming weeks.  This time around I set the intention to enjoy my life.  To not focus so much on what I want to do, what I want to accomplish, that I lose sight of why I want to do these things.  I wrote something in my calendar this week, copied it from somewhere and can't find where, but it says, "I write because I love it."  Oh yeah.  This isn't something someone is making me do; this is something I want to do.  And I should relax a little and let myself enjoy it, have fun along the way. 

What does this have to do with my ROW80 goals?  Everything.  Because all of my goals are things my heart desires.  And yet I keep living under this heavy cloud of angst and worry about needing to do more, do it faster, get things done, check off those "to do" items.  That's not actually what I wanted to set myself up for when I started making goals and plans to be a write lo these many years ago.  It's just what I somehow drifted into.  And now I have seen it, and I can correct it!

So, what did I do ROW80-wise since Wednesday?  A little writing.  I've learned a few things about my love interest, including one really huge, important bit that finally gives me reasons for some of the things he's doing or going to do.  I'm so happy about this!  I like it when things make sense.  I don't like my people just randomly doing things because I need to move the story forward.  This is a really good thing.

I have actually started exercising!  And it feels good.  I need to focus on how good my body feels when I'm stretching and moving it and make that, and being stronger with more stamina, my motivation to keep moving.  I want to enjoy moving, not move because I'm trying to lose inches or pants sizes or anything like that.

This round is turning into the round where I learn a lot about what I really want in my life.  I like it.  I like the direction I'm going in, this movement toward enjoyment and satisfaction with doing something now rather than just looking toward what it's going to get me later.

This coming week I want to focus on building a more regular writing habit because I still tend to be sporadic.  I think my brain feels better, my thoughts flow more smoothly, and my emotions stay on a more even keel when I write regularly.  Or, as my boyfriend says, "You're happier when you're writing.  So write!"  This week, I'm going to start a habit of setting my writing stuff out first thing in the morning where I'll see it as I'm doing my work at the office.  Then, when it's time for writing, I will have everything set to go.  I'm also going to experiment with writing something every day even if some of the days it's a writing exercise or journal entry, just to see how daily writing makes me feel.

Thank you to everyone who left such positive comments on my last post.  Hearing others agree that I'm on the right path has really helped me clarify my thoughts on my writing and how I'm living life in general, and I'm starting to feel really excited about my writing and my possibilities again.  I haven't really been excited about my writing in too long, so I'm thrilled that feeling is coming back, and I'm going to nurture it and enjoy it every day!