What Inspires Me? Lighten the Load
Lately, I’ve been walking around lugging an extra 50 pounds…of baggage (OK, and of actually blubber, but that is not what this is about, yet.) This is about that extra baggage. The lists of must do-need to-overdue items on my task list. They are weighing me down. And so, yes, I do do them. But often at the expense of doing what I want to be doing. Guilt is a huge motivator.
Truth is, before last weekend when I attended the first in 3 years—hooray!—Alumni retreat, I hadn’t paid much attention, or frankly though it was something I could do anything to change. Instead, I just carried on lugging the baggage, growing more stooped, grumpy, unfulfilled…
Okay, so back to the actual blubber which is probably a result of dealing with tasks at the expense of personal needs—aka exercise—that hasn’t helped. But those extra blub pounds had finally become so disgusting that, inspired by friends and family members I finally decided to actually track my intake and pay attention and so I downloaded the Lose It App. Cue The Band’s Take a Load off Fanny. Confession, until I looked up the YouTube, I have been singing “Granny” as in Take a Load off Granny…which, now that I think about it is why I downloaded Lose It and what this post is about…
Which takes me to the VCFA Alumni Residency. The closing lecturer was new VCFA faculty member Anica Mrose Rissi who’s presentation, “Process Is a Story We Tell Ourselves” was partly about how how maybe—just maybe—the reason we do—or don’t do—what we want is because the story we tell ourselves is “I can’t! Too busy! I’m not important! What I want is not important! insert all our various “too busy for me” stories. Anica Mrose Rissi is former editor who managed to publish a slew of books while being a fantastic editor and is now, still, writing delightful books and teaching (Absolutely check out her books.) She suggests we change our stories. Rissi is inspiring! Her talk was inspiring. It inspired me to change my story from I-can-only-write-when-I-have-a-chunk-of-alone-time-and-my-chores-are-done to I WILL WRITE 15 MINUTES A DAY with the same commitment I give to brushing my teeth. And I have excellent dental hygiene. But saying it—even in ALL CAPS—is one thing. . .
This is the one I downloaded.
Doing it! Carving out 15 minutes for M.E. Making sure I do it! And celebrating it was another. Back to Lose It!
Lose it! *as I said, is a FREE (and if you want more paid) calorie tracking-exercise-weight loss app, like NOOM I suppose (although I’ve never used NOOM). The Lose It App is easy to use to track meals and exercise. It’s on my phone which is literally plastered to my yoga-pants clad leg aaaaaall the time. And best, I was using it. Heck! I was on a streak—not weight loss streak but a 10-day long Meal & Exercise Logging streak. So I got to thinking. Accountability! Celebrating! Record Keeping! Can I use the Lose It! App to record my 15-Minute Writing Goal.
And YES! YES! and YES! So I am not Tekke. I do not like “exploring” apps. I’m a tell me what and how to do it and I will do that and exactly that Tek user. But I did a little searching on the Lose it! App and discovered one can add Customized Workouts to the list of exercises listed. So that’s what I did.
I added “Writing” to the list of exercise options. And, because the App requires one to post the calories used beside exercises, I figured dang, when I’m writing, my brain is clicking—as are my fingers—so that has to use calories. At least as many calories as resting Yoga, hence I gave it 10. That’s it!
Amazing how a tiny change to My Story and rewarding myself by tracking my success has made such a difference! I’m still hauling around all that luggage, but the promise and reward of 15 minutes writing has me singing a new song. And not going overboard, I’m considering adding a few more goals worth tracking to my handy dandy customized LOSE IT app. After all, “Leisure Reading” and “Photo Sorting” are workouts, too, right? Care to join me?
Lose It is helping me Do exactly what I want! Now that’s inspiring!
*No Lose It App didn’t pay me to write this or provide the download link. But they should…hint hint
Handle With Care
I walked into the most enticing antique shop in La Mesa, California, today. The window display pulled me in; Candlewick glassware and vibrant Fiesta dishes-transparent and dainty juxtaposed with bold, hearty ceramics.
So like me; so like most of us. . .
In her recent posting on Write at Your Own Risk, the unofficial Vermont College of Fine Arts Faculty blog, Coe Booth discusses her novel-in-progress when it’s at what she calls “The Fragile Stage.” When, as she describes it, “We're excited about our ideas, but we haven't hit that stage in the writing process where we can see the path to the end.”
Anyone who’s ever painted a picture; planted a garden; rearranged a room; cooked a meal, moved. . . has been there. You know: that time when you can so clearly picture exactly what you want the end result to be, but. . . But right then, with the necessary ingredients unpacked, scattered, detritus here and there, parts missing, it looks like a mess, garbage, hodge-podge, heap of junk?
Oh yeah…THAT “Fragile Stage.”
When a project is in The Fragile Stage, Booth notes, our “own self-talk can make ‘That's a good idea!’ into ‘Ugh, that sucks’ so fast your head doesn't have time to spin.” Self-talk makes or breaks you.
Lured by the Candlewick and Fiesta ware in the window, I stepped into the Antique Shop with—no surprise to anyone who knows me—one paw already on my wallet. I was sure I’d find that something I needed to buy waiting inside. A sign with big, black on white bold lettering posted just inside the door set my Candlewick Core quaking:
YOU CHIP IT, YOU BUY IT!
What to do? If I start browsing, I risk chipping something; if I don't browse I won't find the treasure; I'll miss out on finding my prize; I've worked hard all week, I so deserve a prize, but. . .
I’ve had to buy something I broke before—most recently a jade good-luck talisman in a Bali Shop, which the saleslady wrapped up and gave me, saying I could “glue it together.” (Yeah right, as if gluing it back together will put the good luck jube-jube back inside.)
As Booth says: “Listen to your self-talk.”
Negative self-talk “can stop us before we put word on the page,” or plant in the ground, paint on the brush, fork in the drawer or foot through the door.
Positive self-talk “keep us motivated as we find our way…”
And, if your inner-critic is shouting too loudly, stifle it the way the guy did in the song, Make up your own little sign:
FRAGILE STAGE IN PROGRESS
HANDLE WITH CARE
Post your sign in a prominent spot, tune your inner-station to a happy song and get after it!
Read Coe Booth’s May 14, 2012 blog posting, "The Fragile Stage" : http://writeatyourownrisk.posterous.com/the-fragile-stage