I haven’t written much this past month, or month in a half. Though I have still been creating things, a small bit of photography and a good amount of web development. I’m generally not going to talk too much about client work because I’m assuming a rule of non disclosure. 

Beyond those other means of creative outlet, I haven’t written much for a few reasons. One of which is an upcoming move. Late April we’re moving to a new house and all the normal excitement that comes with that has taken up my time. 

I also have been trying to limit my screen time and cut my addiction to my phone. One big part of this is preventing myself from looking at a screen the last hour I’m awake. To take it one step further, I was trying to be completely ready for bed 1 whole hour before I was in bed. I was finding it hard to fall asleep so I figured if I didn’t look at a screen the last hour and had that last hour to do something calming, like read, then it won’t take as long to fall asleep. For the most part, it works. So much so that I fall asleep while reading, but then I wake up, go to bed and fall asleep right away. 

However, I was trying to fit in writing at home after work and it’s almost impossible to do that now with my early ‘bedtime’. Is that just an excuse? Yes. Is it partly poor time management and writers block? Yes. 

Though, as a self help book enthusiast, I do love progress of some kind. And I must say the quit your phone book was amazing. I’m so glad I’m starting to decrease my phone usage and I’m glad I can put it away an hour early each night. 

For the writer’s block component… that’s a bit harder. I never finished the short story I had 80% finished and I felt bad moving on to something new. Especially when I had put ‘submit short story to a publisher’ as a goal for the month. But I think a mixture of Audiobook and TV has finally stirred some inspiration in me. 

I started watching The Crown on Hulu. It’s pretty good and has reminded me why I used to love the period books I read. Though teenage me was obsessed with historical fiction reading and writing, I had put it all aside several years ago. I had gotten so tired of the predictable castle romances that I stopped reading anything that wasn’t modern day. And doing the research to write them accurately seemed like a lot of work. While I still think it’s a lot of work, the show has created a few random story ideas. 

I also read “Share your Stuff…” and she talks about writing out a lot of things, including stories of people who have meant a lot to you or been there for moments that made an impact. I’ve thought about that a lot before the book. I’m not the type to keep up with dozens of people all at once. I can go months without talking to someone and can pick up whenever we meet, no love lost and no hard feelings for not talking before then. So while I don’t talk to everyone a lot, it doesn't mean I don’t think about them or that they didn’t mean something to me. I’ve thought about saying something to these people but it feels very vulnerable. Would I preface it with “I don’t expect anything in return”? Because I certainly wouldn’t. 

I mean most people don’t know the positive effect they’ve had on people, and what if they did? So maybe I’ll start a series or working on Laura’s list.

This weeks photo: Packing up my partner's megalodon teeth.