Today's the Day

Well, today's the day!

Okay, actually it was yesterday, but this blog post was written and uploaded for my Ko-Fi supporters yesterday, so... By the by, if you want to get access to these posts first, as well as exclusive blog posts, first reads of  and things, you can! It's only $1.00 a month for everyone. You can sign up here, if you want to support my stuff. There is absolutely no pressure though. You don't have to - at all. Anyway, that was today's ad. Back to your regularly scheduled programming:

I haven't yet finished catching up on the work that should have been done by the end of December, but I am a little closer to completion, so I can unclench my fist a little and start to relax. It's time to start working on my other projects. Not, of course, to the exclusion of what needs to get done, but in addition to.

​There's a lot to do today, as the first day of the rest of the year. Here's my list:

Writing

The third book of the series I'm writing needs a lot of work. It's time to get back into writing it. I don't have that much left to do in the rough draft, but there's a LOT of fixing I have to do after that, so I really need to get on that. The fast I finish this one, the quicker I can get to the next serial, which I'm quite excited about. There are some wonderfully weird things in The Bear, including a peculiar trio of monsters/possibly nature spirits (but definitely not human) known only as "The Mothers." There is a dying demon king, and a power struggle between his two sons. There is the last remnants of a people struggling vainly against cultural annexation.

It's going to be mounds of fun for me to write. So I need to get through this last book soon!

Mental Health

Journalling. I did it for a few months last year before I fell out of the habit, and it was so good for my brain. The parameters of the  journalling I did last time was three pages a night. The journal I have is not large, so three pages isn't actually all that much. There are no other rules. I just have to write a few pages in my journal at night before bed. I can write about anything - how sad I am that I'm not supported by my writing (yet), how stupid the day was, who or what ticked me off and why, and even things that made me happy. It's all fodder for the journalling.

Music lessons. I really miss playing an instrument. I bought one last year with the goal of learning it. Did I even take a single lesson? No. That's alright. I'll start this week. One lesson a week, and then setting aside some time to practice each evening. I can manage a half hour each night. Learning music is good for keeping my mind active, and playing music is just good for my soul. Maybe, if ever I'm feeling brave, I might one day play a song for you.

​Fitness

I do absolutely nothing when I get home from work in the evenings (with the exception of Tuesday and Thursdays), and that ought to change. I have equipment at home, and I'm just not using it. That will not do.

I'm starting slow, to be fair, and for the first little bit, I'll just be doing exercises and stretches to help fix my anterior tilt. Maybe it'll help my lower back pain too. Who knows? I will be doing more intense things later, as an experiment. I've been watching some folks on YouTube do various (free) Chloe Ting challenges and I think I'll take that up. With a whole bunch of caveats.

Namely - I train martial arts Tuesdays and Thursdays. I will not be doing any other workouts on those days. Also, Sunday is my rest day, and every challenge ever can pry that from my cold, dead hands. So I will have to rearrange the schedule listed on the site, which will probably make the whole programme less effective, but whatever. At least I'm doing something on the days I'm not training Martial Arts.

​It's a lot to start all at once, particularly since I'm still working on the stuff that absolutely must get done soon. But I can't keep putting these things off, and while I'm feeling energetic enough to do it, I should take advantage of the mood and establish a routine.

If I fall off, though, I will try very hard to not beat myself up about it. I have a very harsh inner critic, and she can get extremely mean. It takes effort to keep her quiet, and I will be working hard on that this year.

Wish me luck, everyone! Maybe I'll include these goals in my end of month Ko-Fi exclusive report. Okay, I have a lot of work to do. I must go.

Slán go foill!