How To Maintain Your Sanity and Write. Write like the wind. Write until your hands hurt. Get that Steelcase Gesture chair you've always wanted so that you have more reasons to sit and write. Eat Better. You're thirty-six years old, you man-child. Eat a damn vegetable that isn't a deep-fried starch once in a while. Save desserts for a special occasion. Don't do a drastic throwing away of everything bad. Just stop replacing it when you go shopping. Buy most of your food from the outer edge of the store and not the aisles. Ease into it, but don't slip back. Exercise. Get a gym membership. Now. Get a trainer. Better yet, take self-defense classes. Justin offered to meet up with you for breakfast. Make it a regular thing. Does Portia jog in the morning? I know she's active. Make it social so that you stuck to it. Drink Less. I know. I'm laughing as I write this. Try, okay? At least cut down on the beer and wine and focus on clear liquors. Less alcohol and fewer calories for the same effect. This is probably terrible advice. But seriously, it'll help you feel better and think more clearly. |
Nurture Your Relationships. Be patient with Portia. Accept that she expresses herself different. Don't fill every moment with conversation, or expect her to move at your pace. Embrace her silence. Find a way to be there for Roxy, just like she's there for you. Find more time to hang out with Armando and Greg. Go to In Another Castle more, just to hang out and decompress. Speaking of... Relieve Stress. Sleep more. Three hours isn't "enough" and four and a half isn't a "luxury". Take time to disconnect and enjoy the moment. Procrastinate less. Hang up the art so that the house feels more like a home. Hang up the new mirror in the bathroom. Go antiquing with Emilia. Do the last three before the housewarming party. Travel. See the world. Change your surroundings. Take a trip a month, even if it's just a day trip. Share those trips with those you care about. Take lots of pictures, buy souvenirs, and keep those memories. They are much more pleasant than the other memories you're dealing with. Business. Finalize the partnership agreement. You know it's good for the business, and you trust her. Once this book is done, find a balance so that you can give the haunted house and panic room the attention they deserve. Seriously think about whether or not you want to maintain both.→ |