No More Excuses

Looking at my messy house, I realized something on Friday morning. I've got no more excuses. If I'm going to have a tidy house, an organized life, and a list of projects that doesn't get infinitely long, I'm going to have to change some habits or install new ones and just get things done.

In 2002, I could procrastinate on anything with this excuse: "I'm supposed to be writing" or "I'm supposed to be figuring out what career to switch to."

In the first 8 months of 2003: "I'm working six days a week. When I'm not working, I deserve a rest and can only focus on immediate priorities."

Then it was either: "I'm in law school" or "I'm on vacation and deserve a rest."

Now, I'm working five days a week in my chosen career. It's time to figure out how the rest of my life is going to work.

Speaking of Writing...

I've always been reluctant to read good books while trying to write. I found what may be the answer to this in an essay in this year's Fiction Issue of the Atlantic Monthly. If you've read something so good that you think your writing will never match up, Francine Prose says:

The only remedy I have found is to read the work of another, though not necessarily more like your own - a difference that will remind you of how many rooms there are in the house of art.

Close Reading: Learning to write by learning to read by Francine Prose

“I need to touch a pig.”

Here is a story from Zoom that might require you to seek out other rooms in the house of art.