It’s the last night of winter break. Tomorrow it’s back to the extra-extra-long days that go along with planning, creating, and teaching online content. I accomplished my goals for the break. I finished the first draft of GoLII and updated this blog. I’ve decided which projects I’m going to market and which I’m going to give away to newsletter and eventual Patreon subscribers. I’ve made broad plans for upcoming blog series and gathered material. I have big plans.
Plans that are so easily derailed by the mental grind of school. I use time blocking well. I know how to push through and get things done. However, at the end of the long days of screen time, last semester I could hardly stand the sight of my computer, and I didn’t get much writing done during the week.
I also walk every day now. Occasionally, it’s only a mile or two, usually it’s closer to four, sometimes as long as seven or eight. When I was sick in November, all I wanted to do was walk. I’ve always loved walking–with friends, in person or on the phone, alone listening to music, or if I’m hiking, listening to my footsteps interacting with nature.
Walking, like writing, is something people tell me they would do if they could find the time. I get it. I gave up Facebook and Twitter last summer, and when I recovered from a month of being sicker than I’ve ever been in my life, I discovered I’d lost my taste for scrolling entirely.
I feel like I have my brain back. For me that’s where the time comes from.
Walking plugs me into life. It refills what the screenday takes out of me. The commitment I’ve made to myself is that I’ll walk outside every single day no matter what. During these short days, I’ll likely get by on two brief walks since the sun heads for the mountains about the time my school day ends.
Between the walks and the time blocking, we’ll see If I can keep all these plates spinning.
Shullamuth Ballinger 