This week I wrote, daily. For me, writing is the single best activity that promotes creativity, productivity, and satisfaction. I intend to continue – it’s always cathartic. Where I sometimes stumble over spoken word, multiple channels in my brain on overdrive, when I sit down to write it’s usually clear. Organized. Systematic. I can see the structure of my thoughts clearly, fill out the details, pause on sections to think about them without getting lost in the every running chatter in my brain.
The weekends, lately, have been filled with pulling things together. One of my tasks this month is to re-consider how I spend my downtime, and how I can add back creative dates with myself while maintaining social distancing and safety. What used to be dedicated solo time in museums, movie theaters, and travel has dropped almost totally over the past year, and I’d like to consciously add back some replacements.
Today I teamed up with a friend to do a month long sprint planning process – focusing on both personal and professional – how we want to maximize self care, restoration, and creativity, while maintaining focus and boundaries. It’s always good to do this work with other people. Sometimes I find this work lonely – I know that when I do it I work as my best self, but it’s much more satisfying to share the practice.
I also took a two hour long restorative reset workshop with Dawn – focusing on long held poses – think 10 minutes at a time. This workshop was particularly challenging for me, and ever necessary – slowing down and focusing on presence in the body takes practice. I was grateful for this work today, and glad I showed up for myself.
I walked Bertram for 3.1 miles, and topped it off with a single mile run. This is his favorite season, as it’s cool enough now to go for longer walks without getting too hot, and plenty of opportunities to grass roll, and meet friends along the way. (Including TURKEYS today.) Fall is still taking a glorious bow.
I put together my meal plan for the week. I usually plan to stick about 60% to the plan, swap out as I see fit. The number one goal it to make sure that I’m never stuck without SOMETHING. I usually plan protein first, then flavor profile, then assorted sides, but to be honest, I’m not always particularly creative, and often end up swapping things out after first pass.
For those curious, taco pasta is basically home made hamburger helper. I season ground chicken or turkey with taco seasoning, add a jar of tomato-pepper pasta sauce, some water, and 1/2 a pound of radiatore pasta, and cook for about 20 minutes until the pasta is cooked. I stir in a spoonful or two of half and half at the end, and it’s always better the next day.
With that, I bid you goodnight.
Here’s to a very good week.
xo, Sam.