I am taking a creative writing course called Winter Writing Sanctuary with Beth Kempton. It is positively lovely!! I am enraptured with every moment and every opportunity!
This is Day 7 - Part 2: Building: 2.3 Promising: Building a Commitment. The 'Invitation' reads: Make a promise or commitment to yourself, your writing, someone else or to the world. Write it down (this can be a few words, one powerful paragraph, or a manifesto). Later, it reads to make it public. So, I do so here.
This is what I wrote:
There are so many things I need to make a commitment to. And, every one of them that I've done in the past, I feel that I've failed. How can I make a commitment that not only sticks but that can snowball to the other areas and things and places in my life that need commitments, too? This instantly causes a sense of overwhelm to rise in me ... to freeze up, to panic, to fret and fear, to sense the world crumbling beneath me before I even take a step.
I am going to sleep on this and return in the morning. I will make a small commitment then.
--> I return.
I've made a decision. A commitment to myself. I've thought about this and know that this will be a good thing.
Since last night, I've been pondering what this could mean for me: "Building a Commitment." And, to be honest, when I thought of what kind of 'commitment' do I need to build, the list of things rolled out in my head like a Santa Claus list of all the naughty and nice children in the world. Rolling and rolling and never-ending. So, I had to pause and think - let's start small. Small and build from there.
Two things came to the top of my mind:
#1 - Daily Walking. I once had a friend who went for a set distance walk every day. If she 'didn't want to' (for whatever reason), she would allow herself two days per week and they could not be back to back. I know that I need to get out and walk more. So, this is a commitment I would like to make for myself. I won't create a set distance, but I will commit to walking. I won't set 5 days a week, no two days off in a row, but I will commit to 3 days a week. Let's start with that. And, with my Conqueror Challenge, I have spent a crazy amount of money, but they will all go towards this goal in some way. A reward at the end!
#2 - Dailing Writing. Many years ago I once gave myself a challenge: 100 days of creative writing, 20 minutes a day. It was not a success but there were good things that happened. So, the commitment here that I will make is for daily writing, but more along the lines of my friend's walking. Five days a week, and no two days are off. I will use my 'A Writer's Book of Days' for the daily prompts and write for 20 min (min). And I will do it on my blog My Challenge to New Life (l-chaya.blogspot.com). I have no set end date because this needs to be a life-long commitment. Habit creation. Start here and adapt as time goes on. I usually start things like this at the beginning of the year or month; this time, I begin today. January 14th. Not the beginning of anything. Maybe this one has a better chance of anchoring? Tracking will be part of it as well. 5:17 - need to get in a walk today! Doesn't matter how far, just get into the clothes, bundle up (it's crazy cold right now!), and out you go! The writing for today is already done! (see next entry 😁 )
I'll share results along the way. Let's see how this goes!
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