Unbound and Resting
It took more hours, long days, and lack of sleep than I want to admit … but I am finally starting my slow-down period as of this blogpost. And once I’m on the other side of the WRITEABILITY Board Meeting, I’ll be officially unbound from bookings until mid-August. I love what I do, but I also crave unscheduled time. This summer, my body is telling me I absolutely have to do less if I want to get to that next level of healing.
The latest good news? This month I received the best bloodwork data since contracting alpha covid three and a half years ago: my white blood cells aren’t overpopulating my gut, and their numbers are normal; my red blood cells aren’t shrinking, and their numbers are normal; my hemoglobin levels are normal (I’m no longer anemic!); and my kidney and liver function is normal. I’m utterly exhausted by 7:30pm most nights (as in, my body feels like lead, and sometimes River has to tuck me in instead of the other way around), but that’s adrenal fatigue – the next health horizon to address. I’m trying to honor the reality of low energy, without also feeling guilty, sad, and disappointed in the moments I can’t support my family how I’d like to. Besides – that bloodwork! Huzzah!
This good news has come paired with the return of my ability to write for longer periods of time, imagine with more creative clarity, and maintain momentum on my novel. I never entirely lost my ability to write, per se – but the ability to make connections in an imaginary world, the energy to invent, and the strength to keep showing up with “that brain” were not within my control for quite some time. Now, I’m at the desk 5-7 mornings a week, and it’s been that way for almost three months. It feels amazing (even when I’m super annoyed by my revisions or how far I still have to go).
Brad continues to travel regularly for both speedball and woodsball paintball teams, most recently having driven all the way to Indiana for a tournament (thank you, hybrid vehicle!). We’ve talked a lot about his dad, Bob, this month – with the one-year anniversary of Bob’s death having just come and gone. Meanwhile, River was cast as Wacky Cat in the junior production of Disney’s Aristocats at our local theater. He and a handful of other young children worked three hours each morning at camp, instructed masterfully (and kindly) by a stage director, musical director, and teenage theater apprentices – allowing everyone to produce a play in just two short weeks! They performed twice this weekend to a delighted audience! Needless to say, we have done a lot of singing and dancing around the house this month.
Shown above is River (as Wacky Cat) in his recent Aristocats, Jr. performance. Also shown: myself and River at a fave local swim spot along the South Toe River; Dango, my garden cat and sentinel (and look – I have a REAL FENCE for my garden now – deer, be damned!); River’s drawing of a chameleon; Brad and River crabbing on our four-day Folly Beach vacation; Brad (wearing green RFP headguard) with his team; and our bright blue house in late springtime.
So this is just a short send off to wish you all a wonderful, healing, restful summer. I’ll be checking in a few times over the next few months, so read through the provocations below and leave your answers in the comments, and I’ll be sure to write you back:
- How does summertime influence your reading and writing routines?
- What do you do to fill your creative well this time of year that you can’t do during other seasons?
- Where do you find it easiest to give of yourself, to others?
- If you could hit one benchmark in your reading and/or writing this summer, what would that be and why?
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