It’s clear we’re living in the Don’t Look Up timeline. No matter. Let’s dive into the first of 2 blogs for the month of June!
SONG INSPIRATION
This month’s first blog is inspired by Doja Cat’s single, Vegas.
SUMMER 2022
Summer break is here. And my travel season is on the verge of kicking off. I’m extremely proud of the tremendous progress I’ve made toward my projects the past 7 weeks. However, after nearly 2 months of grinding, I’m suffering from burnout. The Memorial Day weekend was a nice tease from responsibility, but I’m really anxious to shake up my schedule next week.
In the first half of June, I have 2 short trips (El Paso & Sedona) followed by a weeklong visit from a friend. Although I’ll work between trips and during my friend’s stay, I’ll make sure to disrupt my regularly scheduled programming (e.g., not counting calories for a few days). For the second half of the month, I’ll return to my routine and begin packing for a trip to Iceland in July.
I have several goals for the summer: make significant progress on my novel, which has been the reality for much of the year so far; publish paper 3 by the end of the summer; and prepare paper 4 for submission (coauthors are always the bottleneck). In addition, I’m anticipating productive fieldwork in Iceland and an opportunity to explore another beautiful country. In August, I will attend the AGU Chapman Justice in Geoscience conference in DC and hopefully make a quick trip to Vermont ahead of my relocation.
Food for thought: Burnout isn’t necessarily a personal failing. In many cases, it’s a response to an imperfect system that values your productivity over your health. There are plenty of things you can do to mitigate the effects, but one of the best things you can do is recognize that you’re not a failure. The system is failing you. But it’ll also exist if you need to give it 60, 70, or 80% every now and then.
WRITING UPDATE
Progress continues. I’m averaging about 1.5 scenes per week on my novel. If that continues (although travel will delay things a bit), I’ll definitely finish before the end of the year. I’m cautiously optimistic (and giddy). At work, I’ve managed to almost (90-95%) complete a “first” draft of paper 4 to submit to my supervisor. I use quotes because the paper existed in its previous form as a chapter of my dissertation. However, I have restructured, edited, and revised it significantly which has greatly improved its quality. But I didn’t expect it to come together so fast. I guess it’s true what they say about experience and efficiency.
Aside from the updates on my writing projects, there’s also the tabled – but not forgotten – writing projects I have stored both digitally and mentally. A collection of short stories, poetry, novellas, and novels. Works that I really need to have edited and revised in order to submit to contests or perhaps publish to a website of my own. I had a motivating interaction with a person (shout out to Dany!) at Phoenix Fan Fusion last weekend about writing and she inspired me to be less lame and possibly start making some of my material available for reading online. I’ll have to mull on this. I’m still self-conscious about sharing my work, especially if it hasn’t undergone thorough revision. But as always, time is in short supply. I’m hoping to eventually push out shorter works when I have this magic supply of time that’ll never exist.
Food for thought: It’s never too late to write. Just do a little at a time. Have a sentence stuck in your head? A short poem? A scene? Just write it. Maybe it goes nowhere or it’s just for you or your friends. Doesn’t matter – just start.
BE KIND TO YOURSELF AS IT ALL FALLS
You can’t self-care your way out of harmful systems. But you CAN be kind to yourself as the global ecosystem and American society crumbles. Activating, organizing, voting, protesting, and fighting this system is crucial to make sure we create a better, kinder, and more equitable society. But you have to be kind to yourself also. You’re still human. You’re susceptible to exhaustion and burnout. And, yes, you have to exist inside of the systems of injustice and oppression while trying to dismantle them. That may mean that you need to visit a resort or purchase a luxury item in order to bring yourself some fleeting leisure or joy. That’s okay. Take a break from reality. Rome wasn’t dismantled in a day.
CURRENT SHOWS & BOOKS
Recently finished: Atlanta (s3); Dimension W; Modern Family (s10); Moon Knight; Stranger Things (s4 – part I); The Great (s2); The Last Kingdom (s5)
Currently watching: Modern Family (s11); Russian Doll (s2)
Currently reading: Wine for Dummies
Thank you again for reading! Continue to prioritize your health and safety. My next blog is scheduled for Thursday, June 30th. Until next time….
The Planetary Novelist 