Let's play fill in the blanks!
✨ Issue #65 ✨
I got word last week that I’ll likely be working from home for the rest of the year. Once the news sunk in, I finally released the breath I hadn't known I was holding.
While I will desperately miss things like my lovely coworkers and all the free snacks, I’m relieved to know what the next few months will look like, work-wise. As much as I'd like to be a free-spirited, go-with-the-flow dreamer, I crave structure and routine, to-do lists and long-term goals. Living day by day unmoors me - I prefer to see the big picture.
And so, when the announcement at work was made, it crystallized something I’d been feeling these last few weeks - I can’t put my life on hold while I wait for things to “get back to normal”. With that in mind, I revisited my 2020 goals, picked up my metaphorical red pen, and began to ruthlessly revise.
As a writer, I’m no stranger to revision. In fact, it’s my favorite part of the whole process. By the time I’m ready to revise, I know what I’m working with, which is comforting. I like having all the ideas on the page, the big picture spread out before me. I delight in rearranging the pieces to find patterns, feeling the thrill of themes revealed. Revision is still difficult, of course, especially when I realize I have to cut a character I love, or a scene that sings, because it doesn’t serve the particular story I need to tell. Saying goodbye is always hard. Changing your mind is never easy.
2020 thus far has been a rough draft. (Rougher than most, I’ll admit.) Like so many of us, I’ve had to scrap goals and abandon plans, but that doesn't mean I get to give up completely. It just means I need to revise.
For the last ten weeks, I’ve struggled to find my footing. Now I know, more or less, what I’m working with. I can make new plans, set new goals, rearrange the pieces of my new life, revise my expectations and routines to fit the story being told. Salvage what I can, abandon the rest, and create something new to fill in the blanks. 💛
Snack of the Week
This bowl of Roasted Broccoli and White Beans (with an egg on top, because I'm fancy) may not look like much, but it was so good I had to share it anyway. I found it via a food-focused newsletter, This Needs Hot Sauce, and I will not be surprised if it ends up in my weekly rotation of fast, easy, healthy dinners. Tons of garlic! Lots of lemon! As much parmesan as you can grate! And every ingredient already on hand, thanks to my pandemic pantry. Truly a gift.
Relatable Reads
Newsletter alert! Eva Recinos writes a monthly newsletter about writing, art and living more creatively, and I can always use an extra dose of that. Maybe you can, too? This month's issue goes out later this week - subscribe here to check it out. 💌
To Avoid Burnout, Work Less and Avoid 'Productivity Propaganda', Bloomberg. "We have to give ourselves the time to shift from a more-is-better approach to internalizing the idea that recovery is as valuable as the work. No one can do that for us." I had a hard time choosing one quote from this article - definitely worth a read! 🎨
Surviving this Pandemic Isn't Enough, The Atlantic. "Our lives have been knocked fully off-kilter, however much we pantomime a normalcy that grew abnormal years ago. Normal, from here on out, is the world we are able to make together." This is a really beautiful piece. 👏🏽
It’s Okay to Be Doing Okay During the Pandemic, Vox. "If you’re doing fine during the pandemic, there’s no sense in wallowing in guilt over it. Your guilt doesn’t actually help anyone; it just adds more suffering to the world. Instead, you can see it as an indication that you’re well-resourced enough to be able to give more to others—and then go do that." I did not expect a lesson in Buddhism when I started reading this, but I'm really glad it went there. ❤️
A Tiny Challenge
This week, support a small business. If you want to both stimulate the economy and protect your fellow citizens, I suggest buying a set of five face masks from Swahili Coast, an awesome Wilmington company owned by some friends of mine. Our order came in yesterday, and the masks are cute and comfortable. Plus, for every face mask sold, they donate one in Tanzania, where the artisans with whom they partner are located. Wear them now, or save them for the next pandemic - either way, a great investment.
See you next Sunday! 💌
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