I'd like the record to show that I ran off to the beach last week, and I didn't load up on shiny rocks, cool shells, or a ton of souvenirs.
I'm not saying that's going to be like a whole new me or anything - likely it had more to do with the fact that we were walking on an island after a wave-intensive ferry ride, and I didn't want to be responsible for carrying anything else while hiking. Or in case the ferry dumped me over the side on the way home...
Details. The views were amazing, the sound of waves was (as always) exactly what I needed, and you know what, I didn't add twenty pounds of beach treasures to our RV. Progress is progress!
That's been coming up a lot lately, especially as all the everything continues to happen around us. The messier and noisier the world is, the harder it is to focus on...anything. But instead of leaning into hopeless helplessness, I'm continuing to focus on what little pieces I can actually control, and celebrate the progress that happens - small or big.
For instance, with writing - since the last blog, Chris and I finished World Enders (and I hit over 100k works in 31 days, which is...mind-boggling to me still). That was huge progress! This week has been more a couple hundred words here and there, as I work to smooth out a short story due at the end of the month. Both weeks are critical progress!
Some of my author friends have commented lately that they wrote "only" however many words, and every time the rest of us are like "WHAT! That's AWESOME!!" because it IS. More than zero is progress. It's a win.
We really need to acknowledge those wins - in writing, in life, in everything. Especially given all...
This. I am usually an instant gratification girl, bigger is better, etc., but I'm trying to remind myself that's not always what's needed.
When surrounded by any number of chaotic situations and uncertainty and doomscrolling, taking the next step, however big or small, is enough to celebrate.
Like - more words = lovely! Aaaaand: any words = still a win. Sometimes the progress is small, and that's ok. Because honestly, if I beat myself up over the small progress, I'm going to lose momentum entirely, and that, friends, is no bueno.
And yes, I'm trying to apply that philosophy to my broader life. I want to jump right to burning things down (um, metaphorically?), but maybe there's a step or three before that.
Small fires are still progress.
