First Published: 2022 May 2
Another month, another reflection. My goals for April were:
Blog daily (starting now). I think that the reflection it makes me do is really useful. I do think that I need to find a better way to ensure that I have time for it, though.
Write a poem a day. I just bought a book of poetic forms, so it would be good to start working through them.1
Stretch daily. I tried to stretch this morning and was shocked at how inflexible I am.
Listen to BiaY daily. I really don’t like how far behind I am, and I’d like to catch up sooner than later.
Reach 60K words in the book. If past months are indicative, that’s a goal I can accomplish. I think I may need to do some more planning, rather than writing by the seat of my pants, because I’m starting to get into a bit of a rut in terms of writing. Maybe it’s just that I have continued this section of the book for far too long.2
A secondary goal for the book is to write every day, even if only a few words. I think it’s good to develop good habits, though I guess I should think about balancing doing something because I enjoy it with getting work done. That’s another thing to think about I suppose.
Practice guitar every day. I like the sound of guitar, and I would love to be able to play longer without my fingers hurting.
I blogged mostly daily. I wrote few poems. I stretched almost every day, which was really nice. It’s a great way for me to start the day, and I like how I feel when I stretch in the morning. I did not listen to BiaY daily, and I think I’m further behind again. I did reach 60K words! As of April 30 I was at 62540 words, which is pretty cool. I wrote most days, though it’s beginning to look like I need a day off, so I don’t write on Sundays.3
My goals for May are mostly the same. It’s here that I run into the issue of goals, though. If they’re meant to be aspirational, then many of them are set too low. If they’re meant to be realistic, then I should really accept that I don’t write poetry every day. I don’t know if I can agree to either premise so I’ll shoot a little higher and be ok with failure.
In May:
Blog daily. I still like how it forces me to think about something every day.
Write a poem a day. I need to do this more and I will try.4
Stretch daily. I like how stretching makes me feel, and maybe I’ll be able to touch my toes at the end of the month.
Listen to BiaY 7 times a week. This feels more aware of my tendency to listen to three or four in a row.
Finish a draft of the book I’m writing.5 This may be optimistic, but in theory these past two weeks suggest I can do it.
Practice guitar every day. I’ve been getting better and I really like it.
In professional news: finish a reasonable draft of my exam. I need to write this, and soon