Worky Work Week Sanity Saver (Day 1): One debonair cat

This week I am eyeball-deep in work. The workish kind of work that is much more work-like than I like. The kind of pay-the-bills work that I'm deeply grateful for but not so punchdrunk giddy about. I know that for the next sever or eight days I won't be able to keep up with that pile o' responsibility and write anything substantial in this space. Up to my eyeballs, I tell you. But I'm keeping my eyeballs above the fray and committing to finding one thing each day, an image or a moment or a thought, and sharing it here, mostly as a reminder to myself to honor my need for daily doses of joy, wonder, and beauty. It'll be my worky work week sanity saver. I hope to share something the same day that I notice it, but I'm giving myself the latitude to pull from my archives of photos and notes in case nothing tickles my fancy on any given day (or if I get to an evening and realize I forgot to capture anything). In fact, those photos above were taken a few weeks ago, and I'm okay with that. (Isn't Gatwick the Catwick debonair?)

A bright spot this week is the supportive, creative energy happening in Alchemy Inspiration: Start Writing. In another week I'll have so much more breathing space and time to create the kinds of things that I do love. October is going to be great, I can feel it. I'll be recommiting to creative work that flows instead of deadlines that stifle. I'm going to give myself space to dream and wander (inside and out). I'm thinking about partnering with a creative guide to help me see some next steps more clearly. I have a week of "staycation" with my husband planned to celebrate our 11-year wedding anniversary, and then a five-day jaunt to Vermont to see friends, hide away in a spare room to write, walk through the woods, and have a horse riding lesson or two. And then at the end of the month, the final session of Alchemy: The Art & Craft of Writing starts. (Yes, this is the last time I plan to offer that course in its current form. It's been a great run, and I still love the course and still believe that the material in it is good stuff. But I can feel that it's time to shift and to make way for new things to come into being.)

I can't say I'm looking forward to this week, but I'll be here, trying to stay grounded, eyeballs open for the joy-wonder-beauty connections that shimmer, pop, and flare everywhere, even in the midst of workishness.