Michele Venne's Blog, page 21

Spring in flux

It’s hot, it’s cold, there’s rain, there’s snow, the power is out, the power is back on, a green holiday celebration, maybe vacation, jeans and a sweatshirt then a T-shirt and flip-flops, on and on it goes. I look out the office window and watch as storm clouds race each other across the blue background. I realize, in some logical part of my brain, that all these “things” that are in flux will...

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Share Some Love

In celebration of the month of love, I’m sharing some. I know the concept of self-love and self-care have been around for a while. After reading about it and applying a few ideas to see what worked for me, I thought I had a good understanding of self-care. I created “bookends” for my days, rituals in the morning and evening. They helped both to set up and review my days. I found I had less anxiety...

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A New Calendar

Many of us purchase a new calendar around the end of the year. It could be with hope that the next year will be filled with lots of positive experiences or an attempt to organize ourselves. This past December I purchased two calendars: 1) a 5 x 7 daily and monthly personal calendar with several pages for notes at the back, and 2) an 8.5 x 11 monthly calendar for my writing stuff.

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Process

Most authors compose their blog posts, social media posts, and even their books directly on the computer. Many of them begin with an idea, then construct an outline. It depends on the author as to how detailed to make that outline. The outline can include the acts, the scenes, the chapters, what happens in each chapter, which characters come/go in each scene/chapter. I think this helps authors...

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Boring Days

Some people wish for money. Some, for fame. Me? I wish for boring days. Days with no wildfires and evacuations. Days of physical and mental health so people can do what they do with less struggle. Days of nice weather so nature can be enjoyed without huge amounts of discomfort. Days of enjoyable work. Days where positive predictions come true. Days of community coming together for the greater good.

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Fires

I count perhaps 4 days where I monitored the fires in AZ (and they were being contained–yay!!!), got my horse trailer fixed, go the tires on my car rotated, picked up a few groceries, just started to breathe again and drop my shoulders from around my ears, when BAM!!! another crisis arrives. Two friends evacuated their homes yesterday afternoon. One was able to return last night...

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Sustenance

I did a lot of editing work over the weekend. Why? One, I don’t have much on my list of “fun things to do”, even before the whole pandemic thing. Two, if I concentrate hard enough, I can accomplish some edits instead of paying attention to looping thoughts that aren’t productive. Three, I’m a few days shy of the halfway point of my chunk of time off before the paid gig is supposed (???

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Routine

The temps in the desert look like they’re going to take a jump up this next week. If you have something fun and safe planned for the weekend, enjoy it!! There have been times in my life where I’ve shown up at home or the barn or work only to find the complete unexpected (and how is it that it wasn’t a pleasant surprise?). Not that I spend a lot of time considering the unexpected (well...

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Choices

On rare occasions, someone says something and it makes me pause and repeat it to myself once, twice, three times if needed so that I can remember to take it out and look at it later when I’m alone and surrounded by silence. A few of those still moments include: Ride with a purpose, You were in a rut, Is being safe worth giving up the risk of doing something else, When you are emotional that’s when...

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Imagination

It’s the beginning of another work week, the middle of the 6th month, the state I live in is on fire (Arizona), the virus has shown no signs of slowing down, people are returning to work/family/friends/activities/events, and change continues to roll through society. No, I can’t pack all that, along with details, into my calendar space for “June 15”. But what I can do is look at my interior...

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