Post Graduation (and Drafting) Slow Down

Jesse’s graduation was fun and amazing and mind-boggling. I’m still not comprehending that we have two out of college. And now I’m back, facing all the things I pushed off until now due to finishing the draft of the novel and this fun trip. The reckoning begins.

Goal #1: Slow Down

First, there’s our girl graduating from Northwestern University with a degree in Environmental Engineering. So proud!

We returned from Chicago on Monday and the last few days have been spent getting a few things checked off the list, but at a pace that feels right. I love this quote from Tim Ferriss because it helps me stop, take time to evaluate what I’m doing, why I’m doing it and asking how important it really is.

It has been a readjustment because the wild writing/book ride of teaching, presenting, marketing, and writing like a crazy woman has subsided. Tuesday I tried a new recipe after falling in love with the Chicken Roti at Gertrude’s Beach Bar on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands I love cooking when I take the time. The Roti was good, but not as good as Gertrude’s. That just means we need to go back so I can learn from the master.  🙂 But it was so wonderful to just cook and know there was nothing really pressing to do or that I was avoiding.

This week I also had the joy of contacting the recipients of my Believe Scholarship and the pain of letting those who didn’t receive it know. (Names will be posted soon.) It reminded me how important it is to believe in ourselves, our work and each other. Each person who applied was so committed to children’s literature and wanting to tell fun and important stories. I was humbled to share just a little bit of their journey through their applications.

Next Up

Catch up. That’s my plan. I have a list of To Do’s and will be dividing it into the following;

Want to do. These will get done first, of course. And they include getting back to my picture books and continuing the purge on my “writing world room”—our old laundry room that houses copies of my books, presentations (old and new), research materials for old manuscripts, and such.

Need to do. These are tasks I don’t mind doing, but know they will take time and a bit of focus, like adding more emails to my Blab-o-Tips newsletter.

Resist doing. Really must be done, but have been putting off for a very long time or forgetting about. Things like the box of electronic mish-mash that Best Buy will recycle that’s been in my car for six months.

I have been very immersed in writing and book related things the last few months – just as I planned to do, knowing IF YOUR MONSTER would be released in March and it’s been a BLAST. And of course, finding out my agent was having another baby meant pushing up the timeline for the YA which meant some marathon writing. But now it’s time to downshift those efforts and re-balance all aspects of my life—writing, meditation, yoga, exercise, cooking, reading, organizing, and being with and supporting friends and family.

Ahhh….