🏃 Sprint to the finish
Ep. 16: On when you shouldn't live in the moment, hanging a Do Not Disturb sign on the doorknob of life, and the power of doing something small every day.
Whoa, how did that happen? This is the last edition of Wanderfull for 2022. The last Monday of the year. Thank you SO much for subscribing! I hope you’ve had a nice week and are taking some time for yourself as we sprint toward the new year. I have the week off, so maybe I’ll be playing with Lego sets like last year.
I’m looking forward to taking stock of 2022 in my next newsletter. That said, who else is tired of these shorter days? I am. Here's to longer ones on the heels of the winter solstice.
A Tip for the Modern Worker
Dress rehearse before the curtain goes up. You wouldn’t mount a musical or perform a play without a dress rehearsal, would you? For important meetings, get a small group of key stakeholders together. Rehearse the actual event using the same tools, applications, and talking points as the real deal. Make sure your screen resolution is good enough and that you know how to mute and unmute participants if needed. It can help to have a partner moderate the meeting and chat while you’re presenting. This practice will sharpen the focus of your delivery, work out any kinks in the technology, and may give you invaluable feedback. Lastly, think through the things that can go wrong and have a contingency plan.
I tweeted that out exactly a year ago and it’s part of my Handbook for the Modern Worker. During a recent hike, my friend Mike told me he thought I was someone who was really good at living in the moment. I quickly corrected that impression, since I’m definitely not! I constantly think about the future and plan for pretty much any eventuality I can conjure. I constantly think about the past and try to learn from what’s happened so I can either repeat it or avoid it, depending on the outcome. Rarely do I stop and appreciate things for what they are in that instant. This tip, though, is not about that. Don’t show up without a plan. Don’t wing it. To me, the Boy Scout motto of Be Prepared doesn’t mean that you’ll use every tool, technique, or process you’ve put in place for some eventuality. But it does mean that you’re prepared to. So, think about this in the context of a meeting, presentation, or speech. Be reasonably ready to handle things if they go sideways. If they don’t, be happy that you were prepared for it, and bask in the glow of a well-done job.
#365DayDraw
I drew this and wrote the accompanying annotation as part of my #365DayDraw project 6 years ago today.
Do you ever feel like hanging a Do Not Disturb sign on the doorknob of life? Oh, why am I asking? Of course you do!
Happy belated winter solstice, everyone! This is an interesting time of year, filled with shorter days, more introspection, celebration, and hopefully rest and rejuvenation. If you feel like you need a break from work, social obligations, your to-do list, or anything else that doesn’t feel effortless, TAKE IT. Here’s to self-care, y’all. Push the pause button when you need to.
Commentary
I shared about the Solstice Text Challenge with Kelly in the December 5 edition of Wanderfull. We committed to doing 25 sun salutations every day between December 1 and December 20. Well, it ended up just as we’d planned: by doing 25 a day, which took just 12 minutes, we did 500 sun salutations leading up to the winter solstice. We did most of them side-by-side at home while listening to acoustic or alternative songs on Apple Music. We did one of them while indulging Kelly’s assertion about the greatest Christmas song of all time, watching the video and sharing a clip of us in the group chat in a bid for bonus points. And we did a few sessions while I was on a business trip. A threadbare hotel carpet is not the ideal surface for yoga, but it was made better by being on the phone with Amy while we got through them together.
The power of doing something small every single day is not lost on me. It’s how I wrote my books. It’s how I drew daily for a year. And it’s how I plan to do future creative things. In fact, I started a new practice on the solstice: object writing. For just 10 minutes every morning, this practice is a great way to get in touch with my senses as I start each day. I read about the practice in Pat Pattison’s Writing Better Lyrics, and I use objectwriting.com to get my daily prompts. Some of that work may inspire a song, a book, or be a creative project in its own right.
Miscellanea
⛄ Did you watch any of your favorite holiday movies recently? One of our family’s all-time favorites is Christmas with the Kranks. We’ve seen it so much that we’ve started joining in the dialog as it unfolds on screen. Good holiday fun.
📰 Do you read this via email or using the Substack app? If the latter, did you know you can add any feed to your Substack inbox? Go to your library and add an RSS feed at the bottom. I’ve added my own website feed and Amy’s Skirtrunner feed, and the blog posts appear along with all of my other Substack posts. I know RSS has largely gone by the wayside, but if RSS is your jam this is pretty cool.
💵 Did you get some spending cash during the holiday? Do you enjoy running, or aspire to? I wrote a post for you: my 2022 holiday running wish list. Enjoy!