Spring, second-winter, pre-pollening, maybe spring…
Welcome back to the 2019 adventures in indie-authoring! How’s the weather in your part of the world? Here, we have been bouncing around between spring, second-winter, and pre-pollening! But… that’s Springtime in West Virginia! ❤
This Past Week
While I am not fully back on my daily writing schedule yet, mainly due to a lot of tech work that I’ve had recently, I did make time specifically to also work on some of my own author-biz-work this past week. (It’s all about that counter-balancing!)
I’m also still learning to make accommodations in my own life for this fibromyalgia (and other) stuff — you’d think I’d have that mastered by now! LOL But… my brain and motivation still tends to believe that I can do everything I want to get done in a day. ? As anyone with a chronic illness can tell you – it’s a learning process!
That being said – I wanted to talk just a moment about self-care.
ugh! *EVERYONE* talks about self-care…we get it, it’s important!
Exactly – it is important, and everyone talks about it (a lot!)… but I ran into a problem trying to figure this one out, so I thought I’d share, because maybe you have run into this, too.
What is self-care for you?
It may sound crazy, but I had a really difficult time figuring this out. My budget doesn’t really allow for me to go lounge around at a spa and get massages, mani’s and pedi’s, and the like… and, if I’m being completely honest… have a hard time even enjoying something like a “long soak” because 5-minutes in and my brain is thinking about all the things I could be getting done. So… slowing down and that whole “self-care” thing can be pretty tough to figure out sometimes.
So — I went back to the source.
I asked myself, what were those things I enjoyed when I was a kid that I could get completely lost in for hours. What were those things / activities / hobbies, whatever, that I absolutely cherished and loved back then.
There were several things of course, but one thing I’ve always loved doing is reading… FOR ENJOYMENT.
Not as a writer, but just reading for the love of reading and getting lost in a story. It dawned on me that since I’ve been writing professionally for some years now, I tend to approach every book I read through the lens of a writer.
I picked up a book that I would not normally have chosen – a who-done-it type of mystery (but still with a major fantasy element)… and I “forced” myself to read it just because. Every time I caught myself looking at it through that critical or studious lens, I stopped, backed up, and just read it for the story.
And it was marvelous.
Give it a try – if you’re having a hard time figuring out what to do for your self-care routine, or just ways of unwinding – think back to when you were a kid, more carefree, etc., and remember those things you loved that may have gotten lost, set aside, or morphed into something more like “work” along the way.
What I Accomplished
- Finished and published The Idoramin Chronicles Box Set Part One
- Took time each morning to do my social media book sharing (freebie marketing!)
- Meeting with a new customer
- Created the 2019 Authors Questionnaire (go check it out!)
- READ A BOOK FOR FUN! ?? (review coming soon)
- Prepped my newsletter for April
- Planning work on my current WIP
Big Takeaway
Find those things that light you up and make your self-care a priority. Maybe it’s something new you discover… or maybe it’s something old that you rediscover!
