My Favorite Posts from the Last 30 Days

1. I Do Not Want to Think About Fibromyalgia Everyday - This post came on day three of my assignment when I realized the reason I have not been writing about Fibromyalgia everyday is because I do not want to THINK about Fibromyalgia everyday. I really enjoyed this post because I got to shout out loud, “I am more than my diagnosis!”
2. Secrets of My Soul - Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind is written large in his works. – Virginia Woolf. This is a piece from a creative non-fiction/personal essay class I am taking.
3. Conversation on Isolation - This started as a conversation in the comments of a previous post, but I made it into a new post to continue the conversation, and also to applaud the commenter, Kathy, for speaking out and holding me accountable for my word choice.
4. Practice May Not Make Perfect, But it Can Make a Habit - Hope that my 30-in-30 writing assignment will make writing more habitual for me.
5. Things I Love #6: My New Office - My new Fibromyalgia friendly office. Love it!
6. The Law of Detachment - In order to acquire anything in the physical universe, you have to relinquish your attachment to it – and how this applies to me and my support group.
7. Misery Loves Company - Where I proceed to rip apart the most ignorant, inaccurate and judgmental acupuncturist to every treat Fibromyalgia. His article perpetuates every negative and inaccurate assumption about Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue.
8. My Six-Word Memoir - I have pain, therefore I am. NOTE: I have pain, but I am not my pain. Look for a post soon on “I am…”
9. Fibromyalgia Affects Everyone: An Interview with My Niece - I interviewed my 13 year old niece about her thoughts on having an Auntie with Fibromyalgia and how it affects her. Maybe my favorite of my favorite posts.

Most Informative Pieces from the Last 30 Days

1. Why I Love Yoga, and Why You Will Too - I cannot emphasis enough how much I have come to love yoga and the improvements in my symptoms since I began practicing several weeks ago. This post is my attempt to entice you to try yoga for yourself.
2. New Book on Fibromyalgia – Claims to Fill in the Missing Pieces - Information from a press release I received – not an endorsement.
3. Bloggers Unite for Fibromyalgia Awareness Day - On Fibromyalgia Awareness Day, I shared how some of my fellow bloggers acknowledged the significance of the day on their blogs. Great way to discover some new bloggers.
4. Review: Treating Fibromyalgia Naturally — So You Can Shine Again - From the womentowomen.com newsletter. I found this to be a very realistic, in touch and accurate assessment of Fibromyalgia.
5. Online Social Networking for Fibromyalgia Support and Information - Part one in my series on Fibromyalgia support and information – focus on social networking sites.
6. Online Forums for Fibromyalgia Support and Information - Part two in my series on Fibromyalgia support and information – focus on online forums and support groups.
7. Online Resources for Fibromyalgia Support and Information - Part three in my series on Fibromyalgia support and information – focus on blogs and general resources.
8. Join Hillary for Her Next Teleseminar - I continue to follow and recommend the meaningful work of Hillary Rubin and her inspirational message about embracing your diagnosis as a gift, teacher and blessing.
9. Self-hypnosis for Treatment of Fibromyalgia - Just one more possible tool for our toolboxes.

There were Three Holidays/Days of Observance in the Month of May

1. Are You Aware? Fibromyalgia Awareness Day is May 12 - In 1993, May 12 was designated as the International Awareness Day for Chronic Immunological and Neurological Diseases. The National Fibromyalgia Association (NFA) joined the Awareness Day effort in 1997 and has led the call for increased recognition of fibromyalgia each May 12.
2. In Honor of Every Mom Living with Chronic Illness - Happy Mother’s Day!
3. Take a Minute and Pause - In observance of Memorial Day.

Fun and Mindless Posts I Wrote on What Normally Would Have Been a Down Day

1. 15 Counterproductive, Needless, and Delaying Things I Did Today - I had a lot of fun with this post, and if you have not yet watched the 2 minute video on procrastination, it is a must! Maybe I should move this up into my favorite posts category.
2. Best Chocolate Cake Ever! Just Happens to be Gluten Free - Yummm!
3. It’s a Down Day - Example of a post I never would have written were it not for my assignment. It was day 12 and I was feeling awful, but committed to completing my assignment. Not much of an effort, but much better than giving up!
4. Taking the Easy Way Out - Day 13 was not much better, so I copied 25 Random Things About Me from my facebook page and posted it here. It was the easy way out, but it still honored my commitment. Yea me!
5. Recognize My Wall? - Just another bad day.
6. Another Careless Doctor to Avoid - Found something quick and simple to write about, but that doesn’t mean it is not worth the read.

So there it is, my last thirty days! I am seriously impressed with what I was able to accomplish, and very proud that I never gave up. There were moments – as early as day three – when I wondered “why did I do this to myself?” and I had several loving and caring people in my life tell me to take it easy and not demand too much of myself. It really would have been easy and perfectly understandable to quit on one of the many bad days I had throughout the month, but that is just not me.

Fibromyalgia has taken many things away from me, but I am still the same determined, stubborn and resilient person I have always been. I still have the abilities that made me a top sales rep at my previous job, I just need to apply them in a new and less demanding direction.

You know the saying “objects in motion stay in motion,” well this was my mantra when I was in sales. The more I got out there everyday to visit accounts, the more new accounts and new sales seemed to fall into my lap. Wouldn’t you know it, the same thing happened in the middle of this writing assignment. I picked up a new monthly newsletter that I am going to be writing for, and something else so exciting I have to wait until everything is finalized before I share it with you. Fibromyalgia or not, very cool things can happen if you believe in yourself, honor your passions, and never give up on your potential.

Comfort is key! That is what I learned after sitting at my old desk working from home for the past year. Although I love dearly the antique chair my husband surprised me with, it soon became clear that beauty and value do not equate with comfort. And my desk was entirely too small for the stacks of papers and books that I normally have spread out around me as I am writing. I cleaned things up a little bit for your visit today!

So this is my new office. Thanks to a great sale and a couple of coupons, we were able to purchase both the desk and the chair for $149 each at Staples. The filing cabinet was also on sale for $69, and the big beautiful armoire which is currently hiding my mess was free! A gift from friends of ours who had just purchased one of those ginormous televisions which take up an entire wall. Thanks guys!

I love the spaciousness of my new desk combined with the extra surface of the filing cabinet. I can really spread out and have everything I need easily within my reach, and still have room for a glass of water, a cup of coffee and the occasional cat. I am just as pleased with my chair. It is as comfortable as it is beautiful. I no longer walk away from my desk feeling worse than when I sat down. My new office is making me much more productive. I don’t think I would have been able to take on my writing assignment at my old desk.

I spend a lot of time at my desk, so it is imperative that it is a space I enjoy going to and that it does not cause a flare in my symptoms. The money we spent was an investment in my health and in my career. If my blog is my happy place, my office is the structure surrounding and supporting it. My new office might be the nicest thing I have ever done for myself!

17/30

Friday I attended an introduction to meditation class at The Chopra Center. The instructor guided us through the history and benefits of meditation and encouraged us to make it a daily practice. She then went into a discussion of what it takes to make a new habit and explained that it takes somewhere between 21-40 days to turn a practice into a habit.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Habit (psychology), an acquired pattern of behavior that often occurs automatically. Habits are routines of behavior that are repeated regularly, tend to occur subconsciously, without directly thinking consciously about them. Habitual behavior sometimes goes unnoticed in persons exhibiting them, because it is often unnecessary to engage in self-analysis when undertaking in routine tasks.

When the instructor explained the timeframe necessary to turn a practice into a habit it brought my thoughts immediately to my assignment. Without being conscious of it, I have instinctively set my assignment within the guidelines of how long it would take to make daily writing habitual rather than a forced behavior. My desire is to write daily, but it has not been habitual and it has often felt like a task rather than a wanted behavior. Usually it is my battle with Fibromyalgia that keeps me from sitting down at my desk to write. But if I can turn writing into a daily habit, like drinking a gallon of water, I will be more likely to follow through, regardless of how I am feeling. It is not as though I have discovered the wheel mind you. Many people are aware of this benchmark, and use 30 day trials as personal growth tools. If you would like to read some interesting examples, Steve Pavlina has written a blog post chronicling several of his own 30 day trials and explaining better than I the benefits of making something habitual.

Once my assignment is complete I am confident that daily writing will be a habit and not a practice. I am also excited about the potential of other 30 day personal growth experiments. Meditation is definitely on my idea list, but the possibilities and potential are endless. Check back with me on day thirty to read a final assessment of this assignment and find out what my next 30 day trial will be.

16/30

The following is something I did on facebook in February. You know those annoying things people do and then tag you to do one of your own? Well I did one and here it is. I apologize to any of you who already read it on facebook. You have my permission to move along. Nothing new to see here (although I have updated a few for accuracy).

25 Random Things About Me

1. I am an extremely private person and one of the least likely people to actually do something like this.

2. Facebook and my blog are forcing me to be less private and so far it has been a good thing for me. Please do not use any of the following facts about me to steal my identity. You would damage the new comfort I have with public exposure.

3. I am not good at small talk. If I am in a conversation it is because I am genuinely interested in the person and interested in a substantial conversation. 

4. I love learning about people and listening to them share. This led me to major in Psychology when I first entered college, but I hated it. Eventually I changed my major to English Lit and found my true passion.

5. If I could spend the rest of my professional career reading, analyzing, critiquing and writing about Literature I would be in heaven. And yet I am not interested in becoming a teacher.

6. It took me 16 years of going to school part-time in the evenings to finish my degree. I think it is my greatest accomplishment because it would have been so easy to give up, and I almost did, many times. I did not walk in my graduation ceremony and that is my greatest regret.

7. My sister is proud of my accomplishments. She cheers me on in all of my endeavors. She is my biggest fan and my best friend. I love her dearly.

8. I have had several great romances in my life. I feel fortunate to have shared the parts of my past that I did with each of them.

9. I married the greatest love of my life. Rob is my best friend (yes, I have more than one best friend), and a perfect compliment for me.

10. We dated for 8 years before we married. In October of 2003 we eloped to Kauai with his brother and sister-in-law. My dad & sister crashed our wedding and made it truly the happiest day of my life.

11. Sometimes I have an unnatural fear that something tragic is going to separate us, because I know neither of us would ever willingly leave the other. Sometimes I worry that we are too good to be true or to last forever.

12. I feel like I am on my therapist’s couch, and I am a little panicked because I just realized I am only on number 12. I have to reveal 13 more things about myself? SHIT! I swear sometimes.

13. I have been offered the job from every job interview I have ever been on. This fact was in the back of my mind when I was deep in the interview process at Hay House Publishing. It was for one of my dream jobs – assistant editor – but I knew I could not manage the four, ten hour days that would have been required of me. I withdrew myself from consideration and am still often sick about it. A healthy me would have landed the job and ROCKED it! Just another reason Fibromyalgia SUCKS (see #17)!

14. I have an extreme aversion to feet. I think ALL feet are grotesque, and yet on every vacation my husband and I take photos of our feet. One day we plan to make a vacation album featuring our feet and all the places they have been.

Hawaii 10/08

15. I am still close with my best friends from high school. We had more fun together than a group of young girls should be allowed. We helped each other through some pretty tough times too. Some day I plan to tell all of our tales in a book. It may be best for us if our parents are not allowed to read it.

16. I was not allowed to walk in my high school graduation because on the night of our senior boat cruise, I jumped overboard into the Newport Harbor with 2 of my best friends. Yes there was alcohol involved, and no I do not regret it. It was an intense moment for all of us, a sort of baptism into the real world. At the senior breakfast the next day everyone was calling us “splash,” and no one turned us in. It took a while but they figured out which 3 students were involved. Seriously, it was a stupid thing to do, and yet we all three still say it was worth it.

17. I have Fibromyalgia and I live every day with pain and fatigue. Some days it is manageable, some days it is unbearable. I believe that one day I will be free of Fibromyalgia. I started my blog to help me learn to live better with it, and to do research to help me one day live without it. (This was actually news to some of my friends on facebook when I wrote this back in February. I am living more honestly now thanks to my blog.)

18. I also started a support group. There are 52 members in my group and I take a lot of pride in sharing what I have learned, and looking for new information to help all of us live better. I avoid things that foster negativity or victimization. I think I am a natural leader.

19. I am also a control freak! This may be why I think I am a natural leader, because I tend to take control and do things my way. But my way is the best way, right? Isn’t that what all control freaks think?

20. I think my husband appreciates that I am a control freak (most of the time). That way he gets to be a slacker and there are no repercussions. See, I told you we are the perfect compliments for each other. P.S. He is really not a slacker.

21. I started watching General Hospital the summer I turned 8 years old. I still watch General Hospital. I turn 40 this summer. I can’t believe I just admitted that! The GH part – not the 40 part. I am actually looking forward to turning 40.

22. I have a dry, cutting sense of humor I inherited from my father. Most of my best traits come from him.

23. One of my favorite childhood memories is of a time I made my dad laugh. We were up late watching SNL. Meatloaf was the musical guest and it was the first time I had ever seen him. He took the stage and I made the comment that he looked more like a meatball to me. My dad laughed so hard he cried. It made me happy to make him so happy.

24. My mom left when I was 6 and my sister was 9. My dad raised us for several years alone which was very hard on him, and which is why I still remember vividly that moment when I made him laugh. He is my hero.

25. This has been a fun little exercise, but I do not think you can truly get to know anyone from a list of 25 things. People are more wonderful and complex than that.

13/30

I am taking a writing class. It is a six week, creative nonfiction class on personal essay. Here is a short description of personal essay from my class syllabus:

In his introduction to the definitive anthology on the subject, The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present, essayist Phillip Lopate writes, the personal essay “should certainly be celebrated, because it is one of the most approachable and diverting types of literature we possess. The hallmark of the personal essay is its intimacy…. ” He goes on to explain, “At the core of the personal essay is the supposition that there is a certain unity to human experience.”

My main purpose of taking this class is to better my writing skills for my blog. So much of what I share on Fibromyalgia Haven is my personal experience of living with FIbromyalgia, and I want to continue to do so in a manner that you can relate to and that you will enjoy to read. 

So my first assignment was this: “Choose a “first” in your life—a first kiss, a first communion, a first parking ticket, a first marriage, etc.—and write up to 500 words describing what happened and how you felt about it at the time it was happening.”

I chose to write about one of my favorite childhood memories; the first time I saw snow. I am sharing it with you as a way to document my growth as a writer and also because this is my happy place so I want to share a happy memory with you. This is an early draft of an idea I plan to eventually expand into a long essay.

First Snow

My mom parked the car in front of the café and I could barely wait to jump out. It had taken us two days to drive the 16 hours from Huntington Beach, California to Soda Springs, Idaho. Sixteen hours of carsickness and arguing with my sister over the front seat. It was a lot for a five year old to endure. I could see my dad through the big paned windows of the café and my excitement grew. Two months prior he had come to Soda Springs by himself to find a job and a place for us to live. He was sitting in a booth smiling at us, and I could not wait to run to him for one of his fierce bear hugs. I had missed him very much.

Maria Pace-Wynters

As I opened the car door I was immediately thankful for the new red fur coat my mom had bought me. It was thick, bulky and unfamiliar, and it caused me to move awkwardly as I got out of the car. The air was cold and brisk on my face, forcefully demanding my attention. My sister ran past me and raced into the café, anxious to be reunited with our dad, but I just stood there on the sidewalk disoriented.

My nostrils hurt with each inhale. My hands and fingers began to sting. It was cold, REALLY COLD. Then just as quickly, the cold was eclipsed by something even more foreign – a soft and gentle feeling of wetness brushing against my face. I paused there, confused and mesmerized.

I stood on the sidewalk with my arms out to my sides and watched as giant white flakes floated down from the sky and landed gently on my extended arms. So beautiful! What is this? The contrast of the white flakes against my red coat gave me the impression that the flakes were landing only on me and nowhere else. It was pure joy! I remember standing on the sidewalk, looking at my outstretched arms and spinning slowly. What was this beautiful gift that was welcoming me? It was a pure moment with no fears or uncertainty, just bliss.

And then I heard my mom laugh and the trance broke. She was standing with her hand on the door to the café laughing at me. It was nice to hear her laugh again. It had been a while. “It’s called snow silly,” she said. “I told you we were moving to a place where it snowed.” The day my mom told me we were moving to a place where it snowed, it meant nothing to me. Two months later as I stood there watching the flakes land and disappear over and over again, I knew my life was going to be different. I ran to my mom and took her hand. As we entered the café and our new life, I looked back at the snow with wonder and an expectancy of the new discoveries that lay ahead.

10/30

Procrastination is a behavior which is characterized by deferment of actions or tasks to a later time. Psychologists often cite procrastination as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision. Psychology researchers also have three criteria they use to categorize procrastination. For a behavior to be classified as procrastination, it must be counterproductive, needless, and delaying.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P785j15Tzk]

Counterproductive, needless and delaying ways I spent my time today – instead of getting my “stuff done.”

1. Spent two hours on Twitter reading any semi-interesting article someone tweeted about. Did you know it is National Prayer Day?

2. Posted two such articles on my facebook page. Worlds oldest dog turns 21 today. He is a senior wiener!

3. Checked e-mail.

4. Decided my hair was bugging me so went into the bathroom to put it in a ponytail. How did my bathroom sink get so unorganized?

5. Straighten bathroom.

6. Checked e-mail. Oooo good deal on T.V.’s at Costco.

7. Kicked the ball around the house a bit with Finley. Noticed he sheds a lot when playing ball. 

8. Vacuumed.

9. Really! No one has e-mailed me in the last 15 minutes?

10. Changed the tags for Fibromyalgia Haven blog description on facebook. No longer a blog about “Fibromyalgia,” “inspiration,” and “writing.” Now a blog about “Fibromyalgia,” “chronic illness,” and “personal essay.” That’s better!

11. Took my hair out of ponytail.

12. Checked e-mail.

13. Pondered my new tags. Not sure if all really represent my blog. Maybe use tags like “musings,” or “thought provoking” or “needs therapy.”

14. Googled the word “procrastination.” Found the awesomely funny video above. Discovered there are 23 videos on You Tube by the same person….

15. Watched videos on You Tube.

6/30

When I got up this morning my first thought wasn’t “I wonder what new and exciting thing happened in the world of Fibromyalgia overnight.” No, it was more along the lines of “Mmmm, coffee.” and “Do I want eggs or cereal for breakfast?” “How cool is it that Rice Chex are gluten free so I can have cereal for breakfast!” “Shit! I better get that check in the mail today!” Nope, nothing Fibromyalgia related until it was time to sit down and write. So now maybe I am thinking that to successfully pull off my 30 in 30, I may be writing some posts not specific to Fibromyalgia, but more specific to the mundane nature of my thoughts. Hope you all don’t mind!

I guess in a way you will get to know me better. For example you now know I swear occasionally! I have actually considered on several occasions starting another blog dedicated to my thoughts on life in general – politics, news, pop culture, stupid people, etc.. I even had a tag line in mind – “This is my space, these are my thoughts, so SUCK IT!” It makes me laugh every time I think of it, but I could never keep up that level of angst. It is just not me. It is obvious by the tag line that I am anticipating backlash to running my mouth off, and why would I ever willingly invite that kind of stress into my life? I will just keep writing those kind of posts in my head! An internal monologue on life. Now that is a great title!

So that is my little dilemma for today. How to keep up the integrity of my blog and complete my writing assignment without forcing the content? I will figure it out. It is really more of an opportunity than a dilemma. It reminds me of a great excerpt from Steven King’s memoir On Writing:

I had been playing with the idea of writing a little book about writing for a year or more at that time, but had held back because I didn’t trust my own motivations – why did I want to write about writing? What made me think I had anything worth saying?

The easy answer is that someone who has sold as many books of fiction as I have must have something worthwhile to say about writing it, but the easy answer isn’t always the truth. Colonel Sanders sold a hell of a lot of fried chicken, but I’m not sure anyone wants to know how he made it. If I was going to be presumptuous enough to tell people how to write, I felt there had to be a better reason than my popular success. Put another way, I didn’t want to write a book, even a short one like this, that would leave me feeling like either a literary gas-bag or a transcendental asshole. There are enough of those books – and those writers – on the market already, thanks. (King, 8-9)

As startling as it was for a moment to recognize that the great Stephen King (author of an uber number of novels) doubted his own purpose of writing a book on writing, once I digested it, it almost came as a relief to me. On a much less prolific scale I get it! I had those same thoughts when I first began Fibromyalgia Haven several months ago, and I am having those doubts again as I consider an alteration of format. I do not want to be a gas-bag or asshole either!

So bear with me as I navigate these new waters. My content is still very important to me and I am going to be diligent about finding my new balance. This blog is and forever will be dedicated to Fibromyalgia, but after reading Stephen King’s book on writing, I realize it is okay to add a little personal flare here and there. And I promise, I will keep the swearing to a minimum.

3/30

It began as an average Sunday morning – sleep in, go to a leisurely breakfast at our favorite cafe, hit the grocery store and buy something to grill for dinner, head back to the house, walk the dog and then assume the position – me at my computer and Rob wherever he lands with his laptop. Rob made a call to one of his friends who just happened to mention he was walking around Balboa Park at the Healing Arts Festival. “The what?” I said. “The Healing Arts Festival?” “What is it and why didn’t I know about it?” So I immediately got online and looked it up.

The festival was organized and sponsored by The Alternative Healing Network, 501(c)(3) non-profit of San Diego. Their purpose is to educate the community and promote the use of alternative medicine as a path to increased health and well-being. Sounds like a great event right? We thought so too so we hopped in the car and headed down there. 

It was a beautiful day in San Diego today and the park was packed. Tons of natural health booths, two stages with bands playing, yoga and qi gong sessions going on, and people everywhere. I am pretty sure dog beach was deserted today because there were almost as many dogs as people at the festival. So we walked around and I made as many contacts and connections as I could. I am always on the lookout for health and wellness information to share with my fibromyalgia support group, and a new potential guest speaker to come share their expertise at one of our educational meetings. I was not let down.

I don’t know what it is about the holistic community, but by far, they are the community most eager to help and share their knowledge and skills with my group. They are truly and genuinely interested in what I am trying to achieve as a group leader, and also in helping each and everyone of the members improve our health and well being. They are sympathetic and understanding of chronic illness, but believe strongly that our health and quality of life can improve, and they are passionate about helping us learn how. Of course they have a financial interest when they donate their time to come speak at our meetings. Of course they are hoping to gain new patients and of course their services are not free. They did not spend 9 hours today manning their booths for the simple joy of it. They did it to increase community knowledge and awareness of alternative medicine and healing. Participate in a yoga session, lay down for a free massage, and then sit down and experience the healing effects of music. Sounds like a nice time doesn’t it? And what a bonus to head home feeling better and stronger than when you left. Some of the practices may call for a more open mind then others, but they are all meant to help heal the body, achieve emotional freedom, and improve ones quality of life. 

I am overjoyed with the contacts I made today, especially the great contact I made with the Chopra Center, and so glad that we made the spontaneous decision to head down there. Of course it means that now I am sitting here writing my post at 8:30 at night. But as long as I get it in by midnight, I will get an A on my writing assignment for the day. I should have been a teacher. I am such an easy grader!

2/30

I love my blog. So why would I avoid it? Well mostly because my brain and my body have not been cooperating with my desire to be productive, so instead of writing more fluff posts, I decided not to write anything at all. I recently read somewhere that Perfectionism is the biggest enemy of Productivity. How true is that! So what, if I can’t write a post that I am totally and completely satisfied with, then I am not going to write at all? Can I still call myself a writer if I am not writing? Am I the first and only person to write in less than ideal circumstances?  Am I the first person with a chronic illness to write? Uh, no.

Sometimes I just need a kick in the butt! Well I am giving myself a kick in the butt. No more avoidance, no more procrastination. I am giving myself a writing assignment to write a post a day for 30 days – 30 in 30. I need the structure and I need the challenge. I love writing. I want to write. I need to stop getting in my own way and just do it. I have a tendency for self-sabotage (now there is a great post topic), but I think if I approach this as an assignment I will be successful. I have notebooks, and notepads, and scratch papers full of ideas and topics to write on. Time to sit down, review them, and pick a subject for tomorrow.

Besides procrastination, (and feeling lousy because of Fibromyalgia and the concussion) the thing I have struggled most with lately is creating a routine and sticking with it. My ideal schedule would look something like this:

Monday

9am-1pm  Write

2pm-4pm  Read/Research

4pm-5pm  Answer emails, etc.

Tuesday

9am-10am  Yoga

11am-2pm  Write

2pm-4pm  Read/Research

4pm-5pm  Answer emails, etc.

Wednesday – Repeat Monday

Thursday – Repeat Tuesday

Friday 

9am-11am  Write

noon-2pm  Lunch with sis

2pm-4pm  Errands & Appointments

4pm  Answer emails, etc.

Now that is ideal, and doesn’t allow for any out of the ordinary circumstances, but like my goal of 3 posts a week, I don’t think I have ever come close to that schedule. I no longer want to be a writer who only writes occasionally because she has Fibromyalgia. I want to be a writer who just happens to have Fibromyalgia. And for my writing not related to this blog, I simply want to be a prolific writer, and that is what I am going to be!

So I am counting today as day one. One down, 29 to go. And when this assignment is over, and I have strengthened my writing muscles and given them the endurance they have been lacking, I am going to take on a new assignment. Perfectionism & Procrastination be gone! Productivity is my new thing!

1/30