This week, I’ve hosted my 7 day Autumn Release challenge over on Instagram. If you missed it, don’t worry, it’s not too late. You can join in with the challenge at any time – the first post is here.
I wanted to do something special to celebrate the one month anniversary (or should that be ‘bookversary’?) of my book, Seasons of Change. And as we’re in Autumn, it felt like a perfect time to release some physical and emotional clutter. Hence the 7 day Autumn Release challenge was born!
Black Friday 2021 is already in full swing. My inbox has been brimming with emails offering me ‘bargains’ and websites are splashed with banners advertising their wares. But with sales and discounts offered so frequently, the Black Friday promise becomes another voice in a baying crowd that’s hungry for a sale.
If I sound a bit sceptical, let me reassure you that I absolutely love a bargain. The difference being that it needs to be something that I actually intend to buy. So if you have a Black Friday wishlist and you can save some money, get in there and grab a bargain!
This year I’ve decided to view Black Friday from a slightly different angle. I have no items on my wishlist but I do have a dream. And as I’ve been reflecting on this week, it’s got me rather excited.
November has arrived which can only mean one thing – it’s time for NaNoWriMo 2021. For those of you not in the know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month.
For one month each year, this non-profit organisation encourages people to get in touch with their creativity and write a novel (non-fiction books are fine too). The goal is to write 50,000 words in November – this may be a complete novel for some or just the beginning for others. But the idea is that through November you build up a writing practice, one that may mark the start of a beautiful, creative journey.
This week I decided to do a mini-experiment which I labelled the daily reconnect. It’s basically a way of making sure that I take time to pause each day and make space for myself. In other words, it’s little doses of loveliness that are peppered through my day.
I’m still trying to figure out the whole ‘structuring time’ thing after making the transition to self-employed life. I’m naturally a ‘do-er’ but some days I find that I’ve been so buried in my work that I’ve made no time to pause. Other days, I allow work to seep into my days off, so I have no downtime. As a result, there are times when I feel drained and uninspired.
The daily reconnect is my attempt to counteract this by putting in a supportive structure to add fun and variety to my days.
The last fortnight has whizzed by in a blur of busyness and excitement as I officially published my book, Seasons of Change. If you visit here regularly, you may recall that in August I started writing my book.
I developed a daily writing practice with my accountability partner. We’d regularly check-in and cheer each other on with our projects. Over time this developed into a 7am writing session.
Writing was the easy part, the words seemed to flow effortlessly most days. It was the technical bits and knowing what to do once I had my manuscript that was tricky. But because I’d developed a routine of showing up daily, I gradually picked my way through it.