Joz

Not a writer, someone in a fallow year. Really needed this thread right now. Thank you.

So here's what I wish for us:
* we give books as holiday gifts
* we get them from our local indie bookstores
* we spend time reading with the people and pets we love
* when we feel the call, we write
* we get enough sun, nutrients, movement, and sleep
* we bloom again in springtime & kick ass. 11/11

A writing career is cumulative. Ups and downs. And the rest of December is pretty much the Dead Zone. Figure out what is going to bring you the most peace and happiness and do that. Take a social media hiatus if you must, but seek your solace with aggressive compassion and determined joy. 10/

So here comes the encouragement:
* you are not alone
* this, too, shall pass
* keep writing because someone needs your story
* keep writing because you love the craft
* you have survived 100% of the times that felt impossible
* art is rebellion
* art feeds your soul
* winter is for lying fallow 8/

This may sound like a pretty depressing thread when I'm usually cheering you on, but for real: If you're feeling demoralized, you are not alone. Editors are buying less. Advances are down. Sub times are up. Writers are being dropped. It's scary as hell out there, and I'm not here for pretty lies. 7/

Now is a great time to attack the TBR pile. A great time to take a walk in the sunshine. A great time to start dreaming about the next project. When the field is fallow, nutrients are building underground. Why? Because the old shit is breaking down. That's what feeds new growth. So we lie fallow. 6/

This whole thread. After the election, caretaking, and spending a year laid up with health issues (lots of time to think), everything shifted.

Now, my goals are making a living space for current caretaking & future me. All projects are focused through a lens of aging needs. Not whoo shiny!

cont/

I have spent much of my adult life trying to reconcile the America I was promised with the America I actually got. That was a long and painful process. And here we are. It's a game of chance, and very often, bare bones survival. That just is what it is. I don't moan about it anymore. I just live it

My biggest challenge in my life has been related to learning what success is TO ME. And what is "enough" for ME. Not for HGTV. Not for the way "things are supposed to be" or what mom or great grandma or anyone else would think of the dog-chewed coffee table. They don't have to live my life. I do.

I've known coworkers at many jobs investing in new houses and big purchases, and here in my Old Lady years, i understand the impulse but have learned that the time of windfall is for investing in fundamentals and not growth. Do I really need a new house, or do I just need to deep clean this one? 😆

Ok, some whoo shiny, Joz still lives here 😂 But like the thread, even more thrifting/bargain hunting. Build a bit at a time.

I need to re-read this more as I've also been struggling with job instability forever. It helps me feel less alone & gives me hope.

Thank you, I really, really needed this.

This whole thread. After the election, caretaking, and spending a year laid up with health issues (lots of time to think), everything shifted.

Now, my goals are making a living space for current caretaking & future me. All projects are focused through a lens of aging needs. Not whoo shiny!

cont/

We got Weird Al out here singing Killing In The Name, the time for moderation is over

Rogue One is a joyless slog.

I am so, so sorry

Brother is the best. I've had the DCP-L2540DW printer/scanner/copier forever. Started w/ their shipping label printers years ago. Only had to buy a second one because I needed wireless capability. Also bought a used regular label printer 5 years ago, still going strong. Excellent products!

Makes me think about how I've changed.

Used to draft everything longhand. Then started regularly public speaking using an iPad mini for cues.

At some point, I realized it was much easier drafting directly into the tablet. Where before, longhand was how my brain processed.

A screenshot of a Facebook post where a person named Andy ask the Well now “What the hell is transgender?” The Royal Canadian Air Force account response with “That’s a pretty big question asked in a pretty small way, Andy. ‘Transgender’ putting describes someone whose gender – who they know themselves to be – doesn’t match the sex they were assigned at birth. It’s not new, and it’s certainly not a fad. People have lived this experience for as long as people have existed; we’re just finally talking about it openly. You don’t have to fully understand it right away, most learning takes time, but we can always start from a place of respect. That’s how decent folks handle things they’re still getting used to.”

Massive shoutout out to whoever handles the Royal Canadian Air Force’s social media account. They responded to every single comment on their already very solid Trans Day of Remembrance post and they responded like this…

I've been thinking it's just me. I try not to drive anywhere at night anymore, it's become a hassle.

This!!!

Driving back home from the post office, it seemed like every third car had brights on. Cannons of light blasting into my retinas. These are standard now! People tell me I should start wearing yellow-tinted glasses at night to cut glare. But should *I* be the one that has to adjust?

Yep.

The best way to "respond" to a bad take is not to mention the original take at all. It's to make a new statement that is actually true/that you want to magnify and share that instead. Its making a new story; building a stronger and more compelling narrative.

My perhaps controversial assessment is that when you share the propaganda of your enemies to call it out or to mock it… you’re still spreading their propaganda and maybe doing exactly what they hope you’ll do.

nothing fundamental is going to change about the life you’ve already built for yourself unless you make it. it’s happening right now

It makes such a huge difference in so many interactions.

"What exactly am I trying to achieve here? What's the outcome I'm looking for?"

Let’s say you’re feeling good. Or bad. Either way, there’s a decent chance that your mood is just a mirror of the mood of the last person you interacted with. Talk with a cheery customer service rep on the phone, and you start feeling sunny too. Get stuck on a project with a grumpy coworker, and you start feeling down as well. A controversial 2012 study by Facebook even found that showing people more negative social media led people to post more negative posts themselves – without even realizing it. (The reverse was also true.)

From Gaping Void newsletter, an important reminder about behavioral contagion. It's in our DNA!

I dramatically changed my life when I changed my inputs.

This is critical to how I approach my day job now, too. I had this revelation last year when I asked myself "Do you want to be RIGHT? Or do you want to WIN?" (ie get what you want). I was so committed to "telling it like it is" that I failed to see how my sarcastic "wit" was impacting morale of team

Turns out what makes difference in getting jobs, in getting clients (when you aret rich) is being someone other people want to work with. And we want to work w/people we like, who have energy, who make us feel smart and capable. People who light a fire in us, not under us. And not in our house 😆