Well, I made it through exams in one piece, caught my train, and passed my driving test (today! Yippee!! No more driving tests…ever!). The rest of my time at home so far has been spent quietly baking, trimming the tree, DIY-ing Christmas gifts (shh! It’s a secret!), having lovely cups of tea with lovely people, and admiring the lights. The kitties have been keeping me company, and it’s nice to be back in such a loud, boisterous household full of opinionated women. I’m still adjusting to it, but it’s nice.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to craft any sweeping metaphors. Well, maybe I will. I lied, I probably will. But I can’t help it. This blog is all about growing up and getting happy, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned on my journey so far, it’s that you’ve gotta slog through a mountain of crap to get to the good. And learning hard lessons tends to be kind of dramatic, which leads to some artsy fartsy metaphors. So sue me.
I missed my train.
Despite checking and re-checking that my alarm was set properly last night (because I’m neurotic like that), it didn’t go off. Despite the fact that it’s woken me up for countless exams and classes, it sat silently and let me sleep a few more hours.
Yeah, I panicked. Yeah, I might have hyperventilated and ugly-cried for a few minutes, attempting to reach my mom, who was in her happy place at a zen tai chi class somewhere. I certainly wasn’t in my happy place. The opposite, in fact!
I learned two important things:
1. I am my harshest critic.
Does this sound familiar to anyone? Because I don’t know about you, but I can really give myself hell sometimes. Before I’d even had time to think through the situation, my brain was in overdrive, berating me for being so dumb as to oversleep and miss a train, worrying about how I was going to get home, freaking out about what my family would say and generally just beating myself up.
Please tell me I’m not the only one chained to my desk these days! I’m in the middle of my final exams, it’s freezing cold outside, and I am feeling equal parts frazzled and exhausted. But I’ve still been taking time to schedule in as much fun as I can make time for. I’ve compiled a list of things you can do for fun on your study breaks, most of which can be accomplished at your desk in the library, or without having to go on a time-consuming outing. I know we students don’t have time for much besides studying these days! So just pick a few of the activities below, and maintain your sanity for just a few more days. Enjoy your study breaks to the fullest. Happy studying!
What do you do on your study breaks? What are exams like for you? Do you need motivation, or do you need to slow down? What are your favourite activities?
It was completely surreal to hit 50,062 words last Wednesday. I finished my book while sitting in a comfy Starbucks armchair, just as the store was closing, serenaded by festive holiday music. I just typed my 1320 words, finished up my story, and that was it. It was so…BIZARRE.
I learned a ton from this experience, both about myself and about writing. Below, my insights:
1. Do What Works For You
I was disciplined enough to do my 1600+ words a day (even though some days I hated every second), so that I was always right on schedule. Staying on schedule was remarkably (and disconcertingly) easy. It was odd. If I forced myself to do it, no matter what, I was always hitting the little progress bar, and slowly but surely it crept up to tens of thousands of words. By the time the last two days rolled around, I wasn’t scrambling or stressing. I just wrote my daily quota, again, for the 30th time.
Now I’m not suggesting that my way of completing this crazy month was superior, but it was really the only way I personally could have done it. I guess to a certain extent I need to be meticulous. I knew that if I fell behind, I would never catch up, because with everything else going on I wouldn’t be able to devote hours in a day to binge writing.
I guess you could describe my writing style as organized. I know Gabrielle, when she gets into her story, can write thousands of words in just a few days – she’s overcome with the passion of writing. And while I admire that, love that, wish I was like that…for now I know what works for me is putting one foot in front of the other. I hope that one day I can become consumed by my stories and write like the wind, but for now I’m proud that I even carve out the time to let myself write creatively. Which brings me to my next point…
