As I said in the first of these weekly roundups, I’ve been using a new practice, “The Log Book of Doings,” as recognition of daily creative accomplishments and motivation to keep going.
I also seem to enjoy list making and have been fascinated by list-oriented creative projects I’ve seen by others. A collection of people’s grocery lists would be fascinating to me! There is so much story and relatability and curiosity that can be stirred even in sparse, mundane snippets of a life.
With these weekly roundups, I’m exploring the value of sharing a collected summary of creative work and other worthwhile doings from this week. Because I am collecting and publishing these on Friday mornings, that means I’m counting from the previous Friday afternoon to capture seven days’ worth of efforts.
The roundup includes a lot of things, but is not exhaustive in telling where I placed my energy and time. Maybe it will be compelling to others, like others’ lists, logs and scratch-paper notes are to me.
WRITING & PUBLISHING
Eleven journaling sessions.
Wrote and published five blog posts, including this one, with a total of ~5,300 words.
Pushing Into the Vast Space of Discomfort, 1/22/23
“We always want to push against that edge, I think. The point of expanding our comfort zones is not to create a buffer that helps us to avoid future discomfort. It’s to become courageously comfortable within the vast space of discomfort, to not allow limitations to rule and shrink us.”
No One Else Has the Answers Either, 1/23/23
“Nobody can give guidance, can give light, to another. Only you yourself can do that; but you have to stand completely alone. That is what is frightening.” ~ J. Krishnamurti
“5-3-1” by Adam Williams
5-3-1 & Being Grateful with David Choe, 1/24/23
“He goes through his 5-3-1 while he’s clearly groovin’ down the street on his skateboard. He’s puffing through it and you can hear the skateboard wheels on the pavement.
“Along the way, Choe shares that one of the five things he’s grateful for today is ‘my mental illness and everything that messes me up, so that I can find the beauty in the darkness.’”
The Fight, 1/25/23
“With his head locked in Little’s elbow and his upper body bent at a disadvantageous angle, Big let a left hook rip the air. His knuckles landed as squarely against Little’s right cheek as any boxer could hope for, even with a proper view of the target.
“And with that one swing, the fight ended.
“The three of us went into the living room, both of them crying, not because of the physical altercation so much as the emotional release of it all. It was then that I asked them to tell me what it was about. I don’t even remember what they said now. Typical unmemorable sibling conflict, I’m certain.
“But what I absolutely remember was what came after we squared away the feelings of the misunderstanding that had escalated: There was frantic, giddy post-fight analysis.”
PODCAST
Recorded, edited and published four solo episodes (with show notes) on the Humanitou podcast.
A Way of Being & Seeing on a Trail Hike (length: 3:30)
At the Intersection of Creative Intention & Oops, Something Artful Happens (5:19)
Thinking About How We Impact Others (3:44)
A Poem From Somewhere: ‘Spark Cloaked But Burning’ (3:04)
Released a conversational episode on the We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream podcast on podcast platforms, which also airs two Tuesdays in a row on KHEN 106.9 FM radio in Salida, Colo.: Tayte Pollmann.
Wrote, recorded and edited intro/outro comments for the next Looking Upstream episode, with 96-year-old World War II veteran Les Messamer.
VISUAL ART WORK
- Created and published two new artworks to go with blog posts
- Selected and edited archival or stock photographs for publishing with two blog posts
- Published three existing artworks of mine for “The Fight” blog post
- Prepped (framing) for an upcoming “Reverence” art exhibit in Crested Butte, Colo.
EXERCISE & MINDFULNESS
- Three bouldering sessions at the climbing gym, two with my 10-year-old son
- One bike workout at gym (34 minutes)
- Seven meditation sessions
- Baked chocolate chip banana bread
- Therapy session via video
- (Two lengthy journaling sessions noted above related to digging into the shadow self and where my core issues might originate, and how those have rippled.)
LEARNING & INSPIRATION
- One night, stargazing, breathing in the crisp mountain air before bed
- Watched three episodes of “Reel Rock” (climbing)
- Listened to the Armchair Expert podcast with Dax Shepard (guest: Paul Scheer)
- Listened to three David Choe podcast episodes on Choe Show
- Listened to at least parts of some conversational episodes on the Broken Record, Off the Beat and WTF podcasts
- Continued reading David Carr’s book, “The Night of the Gun”
- Continued reading Jonathon Stalls’ book, “Walk”
- Watched “Stutz” documentary on Netflix
- Researched neurodivergence
- Researched the shadow self
