Giving Off Sparks

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Some days, you're hot. Yesterday was one of those days for me. I couldn't touch something without it morphing into an opportunity, a job well done, a compliment, a stepping stone, etc. Probably would have been a good day to buy a lotto ticket.  I love days that sing like that--where everything is in sync and you feel like you own the world.

Then there are days like today. I stopped working at 2pm  today because the hell with it. Everything I touched exploded, from the brand new blouse just back from the drycleaners with buttons for the cuffs MIA, to finding buried e-mails I'd forgotten to reply to, to a  second request  for a project rewrite that is going to require way more time than this project is worth to me. 

I had a woman's group networking meeting that ran longer than I thought, my car windows fogged up due to rain and no matter if I hit AC or heat, the windows stayed frosted and I nearly ran off the road, and my umbrella blew inside out as I went into the meeting, dousing me with rainwater.

I got home and thought with little to no enthusiasm of sitting in front of my computer and soldiering through and then decided I'd be better served by curling up on my bed with a book and ignoring the world for two hours, which is exactly what I did. I was in a MUCH improved state of mind when I did make it back to the computer and--so far--no more explosions.

Of course, I've now got about 6 hours of work to do this weekend, but that is the joy/curse of working from home. My schedule is mine to manipulate as I please.

Here's hoping to a good workday tomorrow.

No Use Fighting Spiritual Laws

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In Neale Donald Walsch's excellent book, "Bringers of the Light," there is a spiritual principle that states "As soon as you decide who and what you are, everything unlike it will come into the space."  The example offered in the book deals with Peace. Let's say you decide you want to "be Peace."  You want to be calm, centered, and at peace with the world, no matter what's thrown at you.

What happens? As soon as you commit to the decision to "be peace," everything that is NOT peace will come hurling at you.  Noisy kids, chaos at work, time commitments, etc.  Why? In the most elementary of terms, it's God's way of giving Soul what it has asked for. How will you experience yourself as "peace" if there are no "tests" or ways to experience being peace? It's a way of mastering the moment and eventually, less chaos will be pulled to you as you move more fully into who you really are.

So on a slightly more mundane level, I made the decision recently that I was going to focus on book writing this year. There are a few projects I've started that I would like to finish (including--yes!--a sequel humor cat book) and some new projects I'd like to start. So I decided I would continue with my regular magazine columns but would refrain from actively seeking new magazine or corporate work.

Bring in the spiritual law. I made this decision Sunday and this week I've been offered no less than 5 new projects including:

  • Write 4 bio's/profiles
  • one website content update
  • write an e-mail and survey for an up and coming company
  • A ghostwriting project from last year has resurfaced
  • Edit a non-fiction business book
  • Anywhere from 1-4 new article assignments from a magazine I had one of my biggest assignments from last year.

Of course, all these assignments are interesting and well-paying, damn-it-all.

I'm not doing to well in sticking to my resolve and saying "no." In fact, I don't believe that word has issued forth from my mouth yet this week.  And I know why.  I "trick" myself by thinking, "I'll just finish up these assignments and THEN I'll concentrate on writing the books." But you can see it coming that there won't BE a lapse in work and the book projects will just keep getting shoved to the back.

I haven't quite muddled through how I'm going to handle all this. Journaling usually works for me. I need to sit down and work through, in writing, what my goals are, what's important, and what focus will get me where I want to be. 

I'll do that just as soon as I finish working on these few assignments. =) 

Popcorn, Beer, & Changes in Time

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Here's a question: Does time differ for you on the weekends than it does during the week?

It surely does for me and I commented on it yesterday to Blair. It seems as if I have all the time in the world on Saturday and Sunday, and even though I sleep in and dawdle over many tasks, I feel like I get so much more done than I do in the same time frame on a weekday. Why is that?

Yesterday (Sunday) for example, we slept in a bit with the time change, got up and leisurely read the paper. Then Blair did some gardening work while I finished up some articles that were due today. Then I went for a run. Then we both showered and blew over 2 hours in front of the TV, watching the ACC championship game (Sorry, Wolfpack). Then we went for a 4 mile walk, then the grocery store, then hung outside with the neighbors.

(I must digress . When we came home from the store, our neighbors were attempting to chainsaw through a dead tree in their front yard and push it into the street and the whole block was standing around watching them. Blair went to help the men and I joked to Pat, the woman's house we were in front of, that a good hostess would provide snacks. I didn't notice Pat disappear, but 10 minutes later she appeared with bowls of hot popcorn. Then M., the homeowner whose tree was being felled, brought out beer for everyone. So we ate popcorn, drank beer, and joked around for 40 minutes while we watched this tree come down. I love, love, love my little town.)

Anyway, after all that we came back and I cooked and Blair did taxes and so on. I felt like the day was slow and leisurely, yet we accomplished a ton. Now it's Monday, I have the same amount of hours, and I feel like I get nowhere close to the same amount of work done. Why??? Does anyone else experience this? I'd love to hear people's thoughts on this.