“The summer air is hot and still, the afternoon hazy; crickets call relentlessly from among the brown grasses, and ears of corn are the same heavy, burnished gold as the late-day sun. Hawks circle in the blue-white sky overhead, and seedpods ripen where flowers bloomed just a month before. But shadows begin to lengthen along the garden wall, and the nights come, just a bit cooler, perhaps; a settling begins in the Earth, a gathering, a slow, quiet turning toward the coming darkness.”
– Michele Morgan
August was pretty full-on, and ended with me having cold / run-down symptoms.
There were a few emotional things happening at work: from colleagues to supporting people in the community in a difficult space, alongside a local death which has set much of the town on edge.
This month I continued small bits of writing, revamped a few bits of my mentorship website, and finished settled into the routine of dayjob + home life + a social calendar. I finished reading another book this month! It’s felt a little surreal to be clawing back that balance, but I’m still out of that tunnel, and the flowers are pretty.
Reflections on the Journey
i. Read 12 books: 6/12 – I finished reading Who The F*ck Am I To Be A Coach?! It was a short read, a small cheer-leading-style book for short-term inspiration. Notes from last month’s book will likely be out in September as I’m just finalising the blog post.
ii. Track my wordcount and aim for 100,000 words: 008,211/100,000 words – I wrote another 531 words this month, and have a new short story due in the Autumn.
iii. Wellness Weekly: August was definitely a “find that balance again” time. I worked out at least twice a week, and meditated at least twice a week. Nothing startlingly amazing, but enough to get those routines back into the flow of my life.
I attended my mum’s birthday BBQ, and then headed to Pagan Pride South to meet an old friend.
Smoke and Ember
The cats are both hanging out in our bedroom most nights now. Since I’ve been unwell (sneezing/sore throat/sinus issues) they’ve been a little more cuddly. Not sure if they can sense something, or are just in that space themselves to be snuggly. The temperature is still madness around here, especially at night, but Autumn is definitely on her way.
Jumping the Wall…
- Dayjob has been interesting. A little stressful, since helping people often means seeing them struggle, but doing what I can to help as part of my job.
- I continued writing and reading.
- Continued mentoring and tweaked some of my website.
- I met up with a friend from 2008 at Pagan Pride South; a nice afternoon in the sun while Inkubus Sukkubus played their music.
The Path Ahead…
- September is a deadline month. My short story, a guest blog-post and some mentorship stuff is all due.
- I’m also planning to raise my exercise to 3x a week from the 2.5x average, and get my website update DONE.
- Also, the cats turn 4. They grow up so fast…. except they still sleep in our bed and constantly cry for food.