Category: On Life

Posts about family, work, life, existential dread… the usual.

March Write Day: Fresh Start

On By Steven D'AdamoIn On LifeLeave a comment

Much has happened in the last month and a half which (mostly) explains my absence from this site. Primarily, I was laid off from my job last month and have been interviewing for a couple of new roles in the meantime. The family is doing well, and I’m confident I’ll land a new job soon.

And if not… we’ll see.

Being laid off, while not fun, presents an interesting opportunity. I had been burned out and overly stressed at my last job for quite some time. More than anything, I have felt relieved since leaving. It has given me a chance to think about all the things I haven’t had much brain space or time to pursue for the last year or so. Writing, music, exercise, community work, alternative career paths.

So, this Write Day post is a bit of a fresh start after this recent hiatus. I’m not going to bother with my last set of goals, which I posted before Thanksgiving. Instead, I’m going to outline where I’m at for the moment, and how I’d like for this interim period to go before I start a new job — whether that’s in two weeks or in two months.

Areas of Focus for the Time Being

Meditation

I’m attempting to meditate more regularly after not really doing much of it for several months. My current strategy includes two short sessions: the first to set my intention, focus on breathing, and clear my mind. The second is to allow for reflection, and I try to provide guidance to myself with a question or a challenge that’s ahead of me for the day.

Exercise

This has been a long-standing and under-achieved goal of mine for… too long. Now, with additional time on my hands, I’m taking the opportunity to just figure out what I want from an exercise routine. I know I need to exercise. I just need to do it in a way that is motivating and enjoyable.

For now, I’ve settled on alternating guided yoga flows with weight-lifting at the gym. The difference from my previous gym habits is that I’m designing a routine that assumes I only go to the gym about three times per week. As a twenty-something, weight-lifting had made up nearly the entirety of my exercise. Now, as a late-thirty-something, I want to focus on mobility and flexibility as much as strength, and I think I’ve come up with a basic routine to strike that balance.

Settling family care items

I’m not going into detail, but I’m in the midst of handling some financial changes for my dad. It’s been a long time in the making, and it will take quite a load off my shoulders once all is settled in the next few weeks. I would have been doing this even if I hadn’t been laid off. Now, I’m actually able to focus on it.

Community engagement

I need to get involved locally. I’ve had this burning drive to do so for the last year or more, fueled in equal parts by restlessness in my own world and rage at the state of the wider world. I’ve reached out to one local organization where I have a connection, and while they’re not seeking volunteers at the moment, I expect to get involved with them later this year.

Until then, I would like to put in some volunteer hours with another local organization. This will depend on when I start a potential new job, but I know that it will also keep me active and cure some of my restlessness.

Completing two home projects

I need to build some damn shelves in my shed, and I need to install a double-end bag so I can get back into some boxing training (part of my ideal exercise routine). Each project should only take a couple hours, so I’m hoping to have one done tomorrow or Friday.

Plotting the best course for writing

I’ve been thinking a lot about my writing: why I want to write, what I want to get from it, whether and how I want to publish. The bones of a plan have begun to take shape in my mind. I think I know which stories I want to focus on — largely the same ones I had been.

I think I also now know how I want to go about publishing. Primarily, I want to do it myself, not just in the self-publisher print-on-demand way, but in sourcing more dedicated printing services to stay off the big platforms. I don’t know what exactly this will look like, or even when I will be able to put real time into it, but one thing is certain. I know that this idea feels good, and that’s enough for me.

Fresh Start

This post ended up being quite a bit longer than I anticipated, but I suppose it was overdue. I definitely want to get back to posting here regularly. I have a backlog of book reviews to publish, and I haven’t written a haiku in weeks.

That’s it for now, though.

Steve D

November Write Day: A Week Late

On By Steven D'AdamoIn Fantasy, On LifeLeave a comment

October was a frenetic month, capped off by Halloween festivities and a brief trip I took to L.A. with one friend to visit another friend. I neglected to post this last week, so here we are almost halfway through November.

Last Month’s Goals

  1. Finish three books.
  2. Stretching & exercise.
  3. Continue organizing around the house.
  4. Community resilience.
  5. Take writing notes.

Finish three books?

I finished one book in October – The Terraformers, by Annalee Newitz, for which I’ll post my review next week. I’ve made progress on other reads, and I’m more than halfway through an Arthurian fantasy book: The Bright Sword, by Lev Grossman, so I should be able to hit two or three books in November.

Stretching and exercise?

I did four shorter stretching/yoga sessions in October, short of my goal. I’m hitting another motivation wall with exercise. Luckily, I went on a lovely hike in California last weekend that has given me at least one day of above-average exercise.

Continue organizing around the house?

We got our front hill landscaped, Halloween decorations put out and now cleaned up, and cleaned up the backyard a bit. I still want to build storage shelves in our shed. Some of our neighbors are already putting out holiday lights. We’re not mentally prepared to do so yet, but it will certainly be a topic of conversation and planning in our house until Thanksgiving or so.

Community resilience?

No news on this front. Still pondering.

Take writing notes?

I managed to spend a couple of brief sessions taking notes on stories floating through my head. I also played Dungeons and Dragons over the weekend. During our trip to L.A., our friend organized a one-shot session with his local friend, who DM’d for the three of us.

I used a character I had only used one time before, so I already had a bit of a backstory outline in my head. Playing (and beating!) this one-shot quest has me thinking about this even more. I don’t know if or where I will provide any information for my character, but I will definitely count this towards writing this month.

Goals for November

  1. Finish three books.
    • Current reads: The Bright Sword, by Lev Grossman; A Promised Land by Barack Obama; The Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Alan Poe, by Edgar Alan Poe and Benjamin Franklin Fisher (editor)
    • Likely next reads: Haven’t looked that far ahead yet.
  2. Stretching & exercise. Aiming for 5-10 shorter exercise sessions, and 2-5 longer yoga or weightlifting sessions (or a hike in the mountains).
  3. Community resilience. Similar to last month, I need to find ways to contribute more directly and proactively in my community.
  4. Take writing notes. I’m taking notes and thinking more regularly about writing, but my attention at the moment is split between two stories in my own fantasy universe and my D&D character. Not a bad thing, I’m just letting my writing curiosity take me where it will for now.

Steve D