Walking through my Journalling Process plus Christmas in July

Hey, hey!

I am in the midst of GenCon 2024 prep—which means I’m wrapping up my computer-related work so I can get back to jewelry design and packing for the show. At the moment, I’m processing a ton of photos, both for my conservation efforts and for my BooksOfM on Patreon July Reward. For those of you who are attending my panels and workshops at GenCon, I'll see you soon! And, thanks for taking the time! Thank you for signing up for my workshops in advance, too—Using Tarot as a Storytelling Tool is all sold out.

Before I get into this week’s topic, I wanted to share that the vast majority of my still-available digital titles in fiction, games, and comics are on sale right now. You can find my debut comic on DriveThruComics.com’s Christmas in July Sale, stories and essays on DriveThruFiction.com, and games on DriveThruRPG.com. When you click on those links and buy through those sites, I get a little kick-back—which helps me save up for a ridiculously-expensive RF lens so I can continue pursuing my wildlife photography.

Lessons from Journalling

Since the beginning of this year, I’ve posted monthly journalling prompts to help you grow in the way that best works for you. Did you know I’ve been journalling right alongside you? Sometimes, I journal about my day, and increasingly that’s directed my focus to the present.

By journalling regularly (which is not the same for me as writing every day on a project) I have the freedom to commit words to any subject. This year, journalling has helped me work toward goals I set last year. It’s helped me understand (metaphorically speaking) just because I feel like I’ve tumbled down the mountain, doesn’t mean shinola. I just get back up again and keep moving ahead. I may not know what it’s like to climb once the atmosphere thins—but I’ll figure it out when I get there.

The side effect of being more present has helped me tackle some longstanding items on my wish list. (And, to be blunt, weather more “interesting times” that, quite frankly, are exhausting AF.) The other lovely and wonderful side effect of addressing those tasks or projects are not moles I have to continually whack. Once they’re done, they’re done, opening up time and brainspace.

Ahem. If you’re procrastinating, take this as a sign to get up off your bum…

Anyway, here’s an example of my thought process:

My goal has been to eat more veg. Okay, that’s a goal—but a goal without a plan is just a wish. So, what does that mean, anyway? Where does the veg come from? How can I eat more veg that’s affordable and doesn’t go to waste? How does this impact my meal planning? Our budget? What do I already have that can I either use, supplement, or learn from?

This year, I chose different plants for my container garden to offset sporadic fresh produce runs. (Some places have the worst produce, I swear, and I can’t just stock up on leafy veg because it doesn’t get eaten that fast.) Tomatoes, kale, and (I’m hoping) orange peppers along with French tarragon and mint. I learned, last year, that concentrating on one or two herbs is better than growing an entire garden because it’s easier to process. Anyway, all of that takes time to grow and depends on nature.

So, I need a vegetable that grows fast, can be set up to grow year-round, is convenient to harvest, easy-to-maintain, and less wasteful. Our solution? A small, hydroponic garden for lettuce right on the kitchen counter. Allows me to snip leaves, grows year-round, and has minimal waste. The cost of the equipment was around $50 bucks; doing the math, if the average head/bag of lettuce is around $3? If I buy that even once a week for Taco Tuesday, that's $156. Not to mention the cost of going out to the store and whatever else I happen to shove into my cart. Bonus: this adds more UV light which helps offset the winter blahs, too. It’s true the garden does rely access to constant power; I’ve turned off other lights, though, so I don’t perceive this as a negative.

That “whatever else” I mentioned dovetailed into meal planning—which helps me manage resources. Following that? And all the work-related processes I filtered through similarly? I now know it takes about four hours for me to prep for the entire week; four hours that are continually paying off in so many ways.

I hope journalling is helping you find your way, too, but if it’s not I completely understand. The beauty of life is that there is no “one way” to live. What works for you may not work for me, but in the off chance that my lessons might help? I’m happy to share.

Lastly, I’d like to close this newsletter by mentioning, for accountability purposes, that I did take my own advice. On Saturday, I did absolutely nothing. I sat in a tub filled with epsom salts for quite a while and read a book. It was fabulous.

Rest well,

Monica