The Importance of Feeling Good

I have no theme for the blog this week, but I think you can say the theme of my week in real life has been feeling good. Or, really, coming to terms.

You see, I wasn't feeling good there for a bit. I got into the pits, listening to strangers scolding people over the internet (and occasionally scolding me), and wallowing in the negativity that comes from so many aspects of life. I wasn't taking care of myself. I was mired. I was getting work done - tons of editing - but my fresh writing was souring.

That little voice in my head that keeps suggesting I quit writing and concentrate on the Day Job was screaming at me instead of its usual whisper.

These are not good things, folks.

The internet breeds jerks, sometimes, because the most cowardly jerk can be a Big Hero behind a screenname. These people are irrelevant, because you can turn them off. See? There's the little X at the top of your browser? See? There's a little lighted button on your computer. Use it when/if you have to, and the jerks go away! How amazing! There are also incredibly useful, rational, non-jerkish people to be found - find them instead, and enjoy them! Concentrate on what is useful; filter out the things that aren't.

And take care of yourselves, because that is really useful.

Sometimes when we are busy, we feel like it is productive to push ourselves - sometimes, it is even necessary to do so. Coffee replaces both sleep and food, and your wrists ache from too much typing/scrolling, and you are one giant twisted wreck from sitting, sitting, sitting. Yes, sometimes that even makes us feel like Authorial Vikings, punishing our bodies for our art, reveling in our endurance and feeling the satisfying pain of Working Hard. I do this more than I should, I admit.

But, sometimes, this is counter productive.

Yesterday, I went to see a movie - one that had nothing to do with screaming cartoon animals or anthropomorphic automobiles saving the world. True, it was the new Harry Potter, so perhaps I am not one to judge, but the point is, I went as a free adult on R&R - not as a mommy. I enjoyed myself, thoroughly. There was a moment of panic at one point when I realized I had no idea what was in my email inbox at that very second (*gasp*). But, I survived that panic. After I picked up the tot from playschool, we went for a long walk; we got ice cream cones. Last night, we watched an Elmo movie together. I read. I hand-jotted some notes for the new short I have to write in the following weeks. I ate a big meal, not at my desk. I slept. My goodness, how I slept!

Today, I feel like a million bucks, and ready to hit those edits I have to do.

Sometimes, the things we think of as productive, aren't, and the things we think of as wasting time... well, they really don't. Not in the long run.

I feel good today. It's important to feel good once in a while, don't you think?

Have a great day, folks.