Groundhog Day 2015 Resolutions: August Check-In

It’s been intense this last month, with everything I’m working on. As I write this, I’m in kind of an awful head-space, and my anxiety is not helping. I have a post coming out on the blog in a few days that will explain more, but it’s related to my concerns about a piece I recently wrote.

This month’s Groundhog Day Resolutions recap is below the break:

Goals:

1. Make regular money from writing
   • Subgoal: Small press solvency
2. Schedule self-care and practice self-love
3. Solidify my graduate degree path, and apply to grad school

Month in Review:

What worked? What didn’t?
1) New piece up at Black Girl Dangerous, which is both great and horrifying. That’s what the next blog post will be about. Other than that, lots of rejections, because I sent a lot of pitches, poems, and essays out. Such is life as a writer. The hardest part with lit mags is that you have to read them to know whether you’ll fit, and I don’t really have the money for that. Been trying to think about how to get around that.

•) Subgoal: Still working on the business plan. About halfway done with the woo-ey one, and maybe 1/3rd through the traditional version. I’m working with a SCORE mentor now, and reaching out to folks who might be willing to provide advice or support. Finally completed After Ferguson, In Solidarity, which feels pretty great. I’ve contacted a small indie bookshop about carrying our books, and I’m talking with them.

2) I’m in the process of un-mucking my sleep schedule now. In an attempt to get good habits in place by the start of the next school term, I’ve created a series of alarms on my phone to regulate my day. I have meal alarms at four hour intervals, medication alarms at six hour intervals, and two bed-time alarms, an hour apart at the end of the day. I’ve considered it before, and it’s suggested for folks with ADHD sometimes, so I decided to try it now, and adjust as needed before school starts.

I’ve been cooking a lot, making big batches of things from scratch — mostly bread, but I made a baked mac and cheese this week. It feels really fulfilling, except for my several failures at making gluten-free challah. But I won’t be defeated! And I turned one of the horrible GF breads into a decadent bread pudding, so that was still a win for me.

In other news, I recently started using apps on my phone to exercise, since my doctors have encouraged me to exercise through the pain. I’m currently using the Nikefuel+ app, and the Nike+ Running app. I’ve also started using the Health app on my phone to track a bunch of metrics. I checked my blood pressure at the pharmacy, I’ve been putting my glucometer results in, I’ve been using the amazing Sleep Cycle app for months, and I have an app to check my heart rate. I’ve started a couch-to-5k training program on Nike+, and it’s been okay. I’d forgotten how much I loved running — when I moved apartments, I didn’t feel as safe in my new neighborhood, and I got out of the habit. (I’m not actually running — still disabled — but I’ve been speed-walking when the training program calls for running, and with my cane it’s working out pretty well.)

3) I’m signed up for 16 credits in the fall. Not sure how well that’ll work out. I was working on Spanish and then forgot and now I need to get back to that.

Planning the Next Month:

What am I working on going forward?
1) I’m gonna try to rally my focus and work on writing more. I am trying to organize a poetry meetup in Portland, and I have a bunch of great ideas for prompts and activities. I also need to send more stuff out — I hit a bit of a lull recently, but I won’t get published if I don’t submit!

•) Subgoal: Business plan in progress, as mentioned above. Working on the next book for the press — almost done! — and, of course, grants. I missed the intent-to-apply deadline for the RACC grants, which is a bummer, but I can find a way to fund the project I had in mind for that another way. I’m going to meet with my SCORE mentor next week. And I need to figure out marketing and such, and get our books into shops.

2) Gonna keep walking and try to maintain that. Hopefully, this new alarm system will help me stay on track and keep from getting low blood sugar and such. Going to work on strictly holding to my bedtime, as much as possible. Probably do more cooking and cleaning, as both of those things make me feel pretty good.

3) I rearranged my class schedule, but I still need to contact my department. Also, need need need to organize myself and start to study Spanish, before I show up in SPAN 202 at the end of September! I took a year off, which was a mistake, but I can’t fix that now, so I have to buckle down on this.

See all of the Groundhog Day Resolutions posts here.