Another thirty days of giving into the process.
Preamble: Are We Back?
I haven’t really felt all that inspired to write lately. Nothing I want to publish, anyway. Clearly I’m not updating anything noteworthy here, and my first draft hasn’t been touched in weeks. And it’s not like I even have the excuse of news getting in the way. Because despite all the explosive and unprecedented goings-on as of late, it’s still the summer lull period. September is when the real work gets done, so I find it as good a time as any to dust off my keyboard and bring you my own news stories for a bit.
This month’s challenge was a new addition last year. I’ve always enjoyed fall as a transformational period, a new beginning, the start of a school year, or my personal “reset” featuring the birthday of a boy I once loved. But this year doesn’t feel as much of a beginning as it does a preparation period. Because, spoiler alert, I’m finally traveling to Italy at the beginning of October. I didn’t exactly plan the trip to coincide with the challenge, so let’s call it a happy accident. But the way it all shook out makes this year far more significant than years past, since what I’m leading up to may be the event that will change everything.
If you don’t quite know what I’m getting at, that’s okay, because neither do I. All I do know is this trip and the walkup to it marks the confirmation of everything I need to be in life. I’ll be just where I’m meant to be, traveling along the beautiful synchronicities I never stop experiencing. I don’t want to get out everything I’m thinking right here, as I’m sure plenty will come out over the next thirty days. So with that, if you’re choosing to follow along, here’s how I will be sharing my surrender with you this September.
Rule 1: Share my life story here every waking day.
As always, I will be writing here every day. I just hope I’m not too rusty, because I remember this being a big undertaking, and I’ve certainly been slacking. And with the upcoming newsstorm I’m sure we’re bound to see next month, things are certainly going to get interesting.
I’m altering the rules slightly from last year, as I’m less focused on word count and more committed to the content. Each day I’ll be sharing three stories or experiences with you, all falling into three different categories: What I’m Letting Go, What I’ve Discovered, and What I Hope to Find. All three may be different tales, or lifted from the same anthology. Either way, the goal is finding the common thread to weave them all together. I can safely say the ‘aesthetic’ I’m trying to achieve on this blog has been successful in having the writing correlate to the chosen daily theme. And I intend to keep that going,
These stories may be from the past or something that happened to me that very day. But I must make them fit into each of these three categories. In order to truly surrender to the process, I’ve got to be able to shed what is no longer needed, to hone in on what already exists, and make a play for what else is out there. And it’s not just about what’s going to be written here, either. I’m going to make it a point to write a little something in my first draft every day. It could be a sentence or many sentences. But if I want to complete my goal of finishing it this year, I’ve got to stop being afraid of writing it. I have a thought of using NaNoWriMo again to push me over the edge, but let’s concentrate on one thing at a time. Because there’s a lot to cover regarding output, but input too.
Rule 2: Before Mediterranean, Go Carnivore
I’m so sick of talking and thinking about food, but it’s really one of those things that I’ve never quite gotten the hang of moderating. I think I do, but then I go right back to my standard bullsh*t of thinking I can just eat whatever I want with no repercussions. I haven’t gained any significant weight, but haven’t lost any either. I’m just vacillating between ten pounds up or down with no end in sight. That is, until my European vacation.
There’s a lot of feelings I have about what a dramatic drop in weight will do for me that I’m not willing to get into right here. And in order to get what it is I want, I need to make significant change to my eating habits. My triggers are grains and breads, but these are also foods that don’t necessarily taste good to me right now. I figure after I come home from Italy and have tasted all I need to taste over there, I can make a real stab at a Mediterranean lifestyle. Put more emphasis on meat, healthy oils and fats, fruit and veg instead of bread, cheese, dough, and the like. But in order to get there, I’ve got to make another dietary change, one I know for sure will work.
Carnivore seems as good a choice as any to keep up for thirty days. I did it last year with results that couldn’t be beaten. So I’ll give myself another month and see where I’m at after that. I know some people make it a lifestyle, but I don’t feel like that’s in the cards for me. Using it to get some of this excess chub off my stomach isn’t a bad idea. So that’s on the docket here too. What’s put in my mouth on vacation though certainly stays on vacation. And what am I going to do, just not eat pasta in the place where it’s from?
Rule 3: See the September Sun
August in New York has been miserable. It’s either too hot or too rainy. There’s been no pleasant days. But how would I know? I don’t ever go out there anyway. I’ve done a slight redesign of my apartment and am simply having too much fun being a homebody these days. But I know I’ve got to change things up a bit. I’m a far cry from the blast of Vitamin D I got from being in Utah’s 109 degree heat, and any semblance of a tan has up and left. While I don’t expect to crisp in the September sun, I feel it’s important to feel it, if only for a little bit each day. No time limit, just get out there. Walking home from work doesn’t count.
There’s nothing else too philosophical at play here. I just need to get the f*ck out of my house for a bit. What better time of year than the first inklings of fall?
I’m ready, are you?
This September finds me in a much different place than last year’s. I was left questioning a lot of things, with the answers left vague and unfulfilling. I don’t have that problem this time. All was laid clear to me, as was what would end up becoming my next course of action. I’m not a different person, I’ve simply rediscovered all that I am without those lingering questions. I have no doubt I’ll see what I once did again, whether in this life or the next. But I can’t stop everything I’m doing just because, in the traditional sense, it is not currently present. There’s a million things going on at any given moment, and there’s about to be a million more. If I can find just a little bit of respite coinciding with self-improvement, I’m sure I’ll have a very happy autumn and Italian adventure as well.
See you on the First.