Category: Habit

Simply a Moment| 1.15.25.

Published on by Honoré6 Comments

The sky’s a brilliant blue, nary a cloud. The only white is snow, still very much here, clinging steadfastly to roofs and the ground. Our highs have been in the 20s, since our snowfall a week ago Monday. Even the birds and squirrels are staying put in warmer places. Can’t say I blame them.

I’m contemplating my own venture out “into the nature” as my grand niece Dolly (then age 3 years and now, mid 30s), dubbed going outside In today’s type of weather, her forays “out into the nature” are pretty much relegated to taking her boys to the school bus stop in the AM and meeting them, at said stop, in the PM. If I do venture out, it will be for a quick, brisk walk mid afternoon: today’s high is forecast to be 31 ~ feels like 21 degrees below zero. Brrr!

Fast Forward to today ~ Friday, 17th January:

I left off Wed, 15th Jan, with all good intentions to finish and publish this post – then 142 words, +/-, before the sun set. “Dinna” happen … Spent yesterday with quilting stitchin’ friends, catching up, sharing stories and just enjoying ourselves: good food, good tales, good time. Only one of us – the eldest ~ 82 years ~ is an “old cat lady” (definitely not me!). Psst: Quiet as it’s kept – or maybe not so – I’m second in the age line: only two weeks younger than she)….

I generally start the day’s writing with handwritten journaling on 5 x 8.5 papers, dot grid, disc punched, loose leaf papers. I often use mini sticky notes to plan as well as capture the day.

9:01 AM ~ Another WH ended and I’ve thus far, entered 272 words . I’m not a word counter, i.e., I don’t set a number of words per session goal tho’ perhaps I do aim – somewhat- to reach 500+, and during Jami Attenberg’s 1000 words weeks challenge . My basic goal is to establish the “write daily” habit throughout the day. And especially, to establish the habit of doing an evening writing session. I can do this tho’ it WILL BE A TRUE STRUGGLE ‘cause once the sun sets, so do I. However, the days are going to get longer – DST or not- and there’s no better time than the present to revise and ramp up my writing practices.

So I shall end this post with this quote from W. Timothy Galway:

“There is no need to fight old habits, start new ones instead.”

And for the record, this post, tho’ it’s taken me several days to finish, is a mere, plus or minus, 432 words. Onward!

To be continued!

Cheers~

Onward …

Published on by Honoré3 Comments

I like to end/begin the flip of the monthly calendar page with a shout out to the end and a hearty welcome to the beginning… “Onward” is Gretchen Rubin’s call to action and seems to be most appropriate as July eases into August in less than 24 hours as I pen this post*.

A pat on the back, for moi from moi, for accomplishing the daunting task of corralling all the jetsam and flotsam I’ve created on bits’n pieces of paper, here ‘n there. What a mess and a terrible habit! A GREAT ONE TO BREAK! As the saying goes: “A place for everything and everything in its place”. I think for me, there are too many places and in some ways, I’m too easily distracted. I know not why! I should probably write the quote on my right hand – front and back! That way I’d for sure find it. This morning I began my day looking for a missing check. What on earth did I do with it?

My creative attention has been focused on Junk Journal July – over the month, I’ve changed the size and binding of the journal three times , finally deciding on the final size and format: 5 x 7 page, approximately, two or three clasp-ring bound, . Some days feature a double page spread.

8:38 am. I FOUND THE CHECK! I’d placed it inside my morning daily meditation journal, rubber-banded to the book, small journal and pens…and there it was/IS! Sitting at my place at the table where I begin the day, awaiting my attention!

I can only blame this on one thing: HABIT! Several years ago HABIT was my one little word. The thing I’ve learned about “habit” is you create (one or many) without even realizing it. At least I do. The challenge is “OUT with the old” – those habits that are not “good for you” and “IN with the new!” The problem is one doesn’t realize when the ‘old’ has kicked in – at least I don’t. I suspect that the other part of habit is mindfulness~ and therein lies the rub: The word itself presupposes that one has a mind. Aha!

Writers’ Hour has ended. I’ve answered a few text messages and my tea needs replenishing. Now that I’ve located the missing check, I’m ready and able to proceed with the day’s agenda…and the surprises that are, no doubt, in store.

Have a great week! Onward!

Cheers~

Post Script: Today is 1 of August! I realized this morning I’d not hit “publish” yesterday. C’est la vie! Welcome August!

Simply A Moment | 5.15.24…

Published on by Honoré8 Comments

…Back to the Future …

Graffiti used to annoy me “big time”! Across the country, around the world, it seemed – to me – that everywhere I looked, some “ones” had left their marks – on buildings, freight trains, bridge underpasses, the sidewalk, etc. Occasionally, on my walks I still see evidence of these snippets of someone’s art and feelings…but I’ve “grown accustomed to their face“…or perhaps inured …

I remember one day I was with my mother; perhaps we were on the Metro train platform. All around, on buildings and billboards – graffiti. I started to rant, rave…My mother, being my mother – calm, mature, very prescient – said to me: “Remember the cave man!”

Mais Oui! But of course! Stopping me in my rant. Giving me a new, different perspective, something to contemplate …and to remember.

Perhaps you’re wondering whatever occasioned this particular memory. Not a recent wave of fresh graffiti… Nope, t’is the fact that I’ve spent the past several days dealing with my own “graffiti” – random notes that I write on any and all available pieces of paper within my hands’ reach. I am sitting at my computer or reading a book or on a zoom call (I spend a lot of time on zoom) or making out the day’s/week’s “to do list”or reading a blog post, or, or, or… Suddenly, a thought “I’m to do/go/remember this” invades my mind. I reach for pen and paper and wind up with another errant item on my agenda. It all becomes – my own personal “graffiti”.

Perhaps too the plight of the graffiti artist/author… or just that of my disorganized and overwhelmed mind.

Not to be continued – hopefully!

all the words …

Published on by Honoré6 Comments

James Clear, in his/today’s weekly 3-2-1 Thursday email newsletter, invites readers to :

“Think about something you have been trying to make progress on recently. What is a completely different line of attack for solving it or a wildly different approach you can explore?”

I have a laundry list of “things”. I frequently meet ideas that entice…and I’m “on it!” Sadly, most likely will not come to fruition. Rather, I wind up falling deeper into Pandora’s box/hole. I have been around for a long time and this “condition” is not at all novel. In my work life, the “condition” served me well, as the genesis of an idea that was later translated as a grant proposal for federal and/or state funding awarded the library system, thus enabling services to traditionally un or underserved populations. For example: persons with hearing disabilities or those in the county’s detention center or adults who were “functionally illiterate”.

About two dozen years ago, I started blogging. Over the years, I’ve managed to maintain some semblance of presence in the digital world via my blog. I’m coming to the conclusion that 2024 will be my last year in this arena. My plan is to ‘live”, revisit my One Little Words one day each over a month or several. I’m hoping to answer questions, such as : How did the word show up ? What were the significances? Impacts?

Over the years, a former virtual assistant/friend’s husband made wooden replicas of my words…there are a total of 32 words, tho’ not every letter of the alphabet is represented. Since I have 32 wooden words and there are only 12 months in the year, I’m thinking I’ll visit 2-3 words each month. I won’t be sharing in abc order but rather, as a mood or season prevails.

My word to begin this year of “one little word revisit”, is WRITE. In 1976, when I first started working in the library in Prince George’s County MD, I “found” a key. Neither I nor my Admin Aide knew its origin or purpose. I wrote her a note, attached to the key: “File under “lost keyholes.” She did. Every time I recall this story, I laugh out loud, a huge smile on my face. Years later, my friend gave me a key with the word “WRITE” engraved on it. For the past twenty plus years, I’ve begun my day “writing.” It is indeed a habit that is as much a part of me as are my hands, mind, memories, routines and practices of every single day. I begin each day ‘s journey, pen in hand, prepared to write.

Cheers~