Category: practice
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3 Simple Ways I Take Care of Myself
Self-care has been a growing industry and is now an $11 billion industry. I have been a proponent of self-care before I had a word for it and before I knew that’s what I was doing. For example, in high school, I often preferred to stay home on weekends and…
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Revisiting the Digital Journal
A few years ago, I attempted to switch to digital journaling, and I had a lot of reasons for doing so: storage space, ongoing expense, the effect on the environment, waste generation, etc. I also had a lot of reasons I didn’t want to switched to journaling: prefer the feel…
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Finding a Graphic Novel Artist on Upwork
When I wrote the collection of poems that later became Destination: This Moment, I knew I wanted them to be illustrated. After many unsatisfactory experiments with my own hand (drawing, word art, etc.), I realized I needed a partner. But I didn’t have any ideas for what the art should…
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The Best Change I Made to Live in Alignment with My Values
For years, I experienced cognitive dissonance because I wanted to accomplish so much but felt unable to actually do anything. I knew I wanted to write, but I always seemed to have a reason not to. Most of the time, the reason was that I was too tired from work,…
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The Limitations of NaNoWriMo and Why I Still Play Along
I’ve finished my second sort-of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) a couple days ago. I say “sort of” because, instead of writing 50,000-word novels in November, for 2020, I wrote a 50,000-word non-fiction book, and this time, I wrote a non-fiction comic book script. But the script I ended up…
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Reducing Friction in Everyday Life for More Easeful Living
I was in a rest period of life earlier this year. I purposefully paused all projects, didn’t do much writing, and took it easy on myself for a few months. My life basically consisted of work and the bare necessities for life. It was actually fantastic and satisfying. To better…
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Decluttering 30 Years of Journals and Writing
Every time I declutter — multiple times per year since 2017 plus every time we move — my mind is immediately drawn to the two large boxes of journals and other writing stuffed in the back of my closet. They’ve survived every move, every declutter, every spring cleaning, and every…
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I’ve Wanted to Prioritize My Health For Years and I Finally Have — With the Help of Fitbit
Over 2 months ago, I wrote about getting a Fitbit to help me along in my health journey. The most important thing for me was to make sustainable changes. So when I said I would prioritize my health, that didn’t mean drastic diet changes, spending an hour at the gym…
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Why I’m Switching to Refillable Journals Instead of Single-Use
I love writing, and I especially need to journal. The oldest journal I had was from when I was 9 years old, so I’ve been journaling now for 3 decades, at least. Throughout my life, choosing a new journal has been a fun experience for me. Possibilities seem endless, and…
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Recovering From Shopping Addiction: Relapse and Forgiveness
Complete recovery — both emotionally and financially — from my compulsive shopping disorder took many years. Recognizing the problem was the first of many steps on the road to recovery, but one step I didn’t anticipate was relapse. Every time I relapsed and made a compulsive purchase, I felt like…