It is shockingly hard for me to believe that we have already are about to enter the month of August.
I cannot tell you why I feel like this year is racing by, but it certainly feels like it is. That is probably a combination of several factors: A busy Spring and Summer, work (in general), and the sense that (in the very best of ways) I seem to doing something now from the moment I get up to when I go to bed.
For whatever reason, the feeling seems to also be coming from the fact that we seem to have had a mild Summer to date. It already feels like Autumn, some days.
This past weekend was the first of four weekends that the Grandmaster of my sword school is at our dojo for training.
I am one of the most fortunate students I know of in that I have three opportunities to train with him a year: once in New Home, once in New Home 2.0, and once in Japan. It is a luxury that is pretty much the result of a series of accidents.
I am likely no better for having all of these opportunities to train, but at least I have multiple opportunities for correction.
(This little dude was not in New Home 2.0, but at my former boss' house about two hours North/Northwest.)
It is that time of year that we have to perform mid-year reviews.
I always struggle with mid-year reviews, especially here as our goals our somewhat...fluid from the beginning of the year to the middle of the year. Everyone adapts as needed, but sometimes finding a way to link what someone is working on to what they were originally supposed to be working on can be a bit of a challenge. And even harder is trying to predict if the next 4-5 months will remain on this track or something else will swoop in and disrupt this game plan
I am fortunate to have good people that are doing good work. My job is to bridge the gap between their work and what we ultimately have to report up the chain.
A follow up to a comment by reader Passing_Peanut who commented on about noting that I have been writing more on Sundays now and the nature of this being a day of rest.
I have alternated in the past writing every day and writing several posts at once and then posting them (as I do when I travel). It ebbs and flows based on what else is going on in my life; at the current time no matter what I do, my time in the mornings (before I go to work) continues to get a bit shortchanged and I find my ability to write either curtailed completely or being done in almost paragraph blocks. That works for a single post; it is much more difficult when I am trying to post daily (which I consider for myself to be a good discipline). Writing on Sundays after church gives me a solid 3-4 posts written and possibly another 1-2 drafted (especially the travel posts, which seem to take the most time).
The pendulum will likely swing again at some point and I will be back to more daily, thinking "How can I sit there and write so much at a sitting?"
Although I agree that the year has flown quickly by, we have yet to catch a glimpse of fall temperatures. But my mind tells me once we reach August, it won't be long. Kind of like reaching March and looking for spring.
ReplyDeleteThe last time I wrote a blog post was upon returning from my mini vacation a couple weeks ago. I think I wrote about four or five posts at that sitting. Judging by how things look, it will likely be three or four more days before I'll be able to write some more. I rarely write on Sundays, not because of it being a day of rest but more so because I try to eschew electronics every weekend. It is also the day my youngest is allowed to use electronics and she occupies my computer so it works out. But like you, I think writing is good discipline and I do it every day of the week in my journal, most morning in commenting on other blogs and perhaps once a week writing posts for my own blog as I can squeeze in time away from garden, in home preservation, woodshop and all my volunteering and church obligations.
Like you, it seems as if I'm going from eyes open to eyes closed most days.
Ed, we are getting slightly elevated temperatures in the upcoming weeks - but it already feels like Autumn to me for some reason I cannot fully define. I do wonder what that means for this Winter.
DeleteLike you, I journal practically every day as well. That has to some extent scratched the itch of "writing every day". I have found that the 2-3 hours on a Sunday allows me to focus in a way that trying to cram in 30 minute sessions on a weekday does not. I am still looking for the "sweet spot" of writing, but I am getting closer.
"Eyes open to eyes closed". That is a very clever phrase - and explains things perfectly.
The end of July and the month is going out wet, finally. Interesting to read how blog posts come to be TB, enjoy your time with your Grandmaster.
ReplyDeleteNylon12, we are moving into more typical temperatures (at least typical since I have moved here) of the high 80's and low 90's next week. I cannot really complain; June was quite mild.
DeleteMy writing ebbs and flows based on schedule. I am grateful that I am actually wiling to consider different ways of accomplishing it.
Time with my grandmaster is always well spent; I am grateful for the opportunities I have.
Ha! Ha! The photo of the “little guy” had me scratching my head. I couldn’t see anything except what looked like some toes or spider legs, and leaves. A bit later I came back to the photo and finally the frog appeared. The photo reminds me of those Escher paintings, or “Where’s Waldo?” books.
ReplyDeleteAnonJ - I would not have seen him either originally but he was pointed out to me. He is certainly different than my usual kind of frog that I see.
DeleteThe year does seem to be flying by, although July's high temps seemed to drag the time flow down. We've got cooler temps in the forecast, which is a relief.
ReplyDeleteIt's really nice that you get opportunities to train with your Grandmaster. Just having the goal and the discipline are of great value, even if we're never satisfied with our progress.
Leigh - I am glad for your cooler temperatures. In speaking with longer inhabitants here in New Home 2.0, it does seem that this Summer has been more mild than the last two. Hoping the trend continues; this is glorious weather.
DeleteI am blessed beyond words to have so much time to train with him. The fact I have had the willingness - dare we say gumption - to stick with this for this many years is something I am very proud of.