Kit and Caboodle Chaos - ROW80 Check-In

 

  

A Round of Words in 80 Days
Round 3 2023

The writing challenge that
 knows you have a life

I'm hoping to keep this essay part short and sweet.  LOL  'Yeah, right.'  I can almost hear my husband's voice drawling.  But I'm seriously motivated to be quick.  I would rather be reading and with all the time, effort and chaos devoted to the 'let's not fail the HUD inspection again' project this week I've not had time to read since Sunday and I just got my turn on the new David James Duncan novel, Sun House which I've been waiting for for over two decades.  It is nearly 800 pages or with my font size on my 10in tablet 5000 screens.  I can't wait so hopefully that will keep me succinct tonight.

So because of the project to rearrange the beanbag alcove of my unit to make room for the cooler to be moved under the window over there so it can be plugged directly into the wall, I've not been able to add the creative components of my goals yet.  But I did maintain the exercise and morning pages and the exercise one is regularly triple the goal minimum and on one day this week waaaaaaay beyond that.

Starting Tuesday morning about 9am I began gathering up and moving all the small items around my beanbag cozy nook and moving them over to the other side of the unit.  I started with the electronics and then the crochet and then the beanbag itself and the beach towel that protects it and all the blankets, shoes, slippers, socks and pillows and stuffed critters that had accumulated on around and under it.  Some of that went in the laundry the foot wear got stowed and the pillows and critters were piled on the couch along with the beanbag which is a 4ft diameter ball when fluffed and weighs 40lb. 

Then I started dealing with all the stuff stored out of sight beside and behind and under the mini-tramp and on and under the craft table that stood between the beanbag and the other side of the unit, creating that cozy nook sense.  I did all that and any other similar work I describe below in intervals of 5-15 minutes with 5=30 minute rest breaks. 

I was hoping to clear the whole alcove floor by the time my caregiver arrived at 11:30 so that she could deep clean the floor and the accordion curtain that I've never opened since I moved my stuff in and the floor had not been swept or mopped in months.  Dust bunnies and cobwebs abounded but were out of sight.  I didn't get it all moved before there were two in the unit and two in motion inside 400sq ft when one is nearly blind..... Well, I had to slow down my efforts and point them elsewhere while she finished clearing the area and did the deep clean.

Then because we were running out of her time with me that day and she was anxious that my path be cleared and my couch/bed cleared for bedtime she wanted to put it all back together in the new configuration and I agreed but as I watched I was getting super anxious.  I realized that I hadn't got all of my regularly used items off he shelf unit and now the table was pushed up against it.  And she put the stuff back under the table in such a way the the things I need regular access to were blocked by the tramp and beanbag as soon as they were in place.

 I began to plot an hour before she left that I would take it all back apart and get my books and electronic accessories off the shelves on the far wall and move some of the craft stuff to shelves that were above the level of the table and rearrange everything with an eye to its use in the new arrangement.  I thought that might take me another six hours  It took me eleven.  She left at 5pm and I finished at 4am.  And in that time I handled repeatedly all 5 22 gallon Ziploc bags of yarn and all 16 11 gallon Ziploc bags of yarn and yarn WIP.

All of those Ziploc bags had been stored in a 'closet' made of aluminum pipes covered by a flimsy cloth that had big holes ripped in it but I would have lived with that if not for the fact it sat in front of an outlet and was one of the elements of my failure to pass the inspection.  So we'd collapsed the 'closet' and stored its pieces until my anticipated move into a 1 bedroom unit for which I'm still on a waiting list.  I will cover it's frame with a sturdier cloth like maybe a queen bed set of sheets.

The most time consuming and physically challenging part of that night was dealing with those bags of yarn and WIP.  Heavy!  I had to keep sorting them into stacks and contemplating the likelihood of needing any of the contents before the cooler is winterized October 1st after which I can put it all back the way it was or manage with the pathway between the new tramp/beanbag location and the front wall clear so I can get to the yarn now stacked under the window behind the craft table which I'd pulled flush with the front end of the shelf unit leaving a 2x4 foot space behind it.

As much as I hate the chaos and discombobulation of the whole situation, I must admit that I enjoyed that project.  It was a giant jigsaw puzzle.  I loved the stimulation of handling projects and supplies for planned projects that I hadn't laid eyes on in months.  I liked the contemplation of contingency and working with the if/then flow chart in my head as I tried configurations and eliminated them and created new ones. 

The feeling in my head reminded me of how some of the tasks in the story writing process from idea thru drafting thru editing feel.  I had some insights into my work process and realized I am often trying to force my mind into someone else's idea of the 'correct' process. And thus often not counting my time and effort towards the goals because of it.  Like with NaNo not words that aren't true scene writing as one example.  I actually designed this rounds goals as a way to avoid that issue as I knew I wasn't ready for scene writing.

This train of thought led me to some really big insights but I'm saving them for Sunday's check-in.  Partly because of how late it is but mostly because I'm still playing with the concept.  But I can say it is exciting me and if it leads to a breakthrough then everything that happened in the last month was more than worth it. 

 ROW80 Round 3 Goals:

• Morning pages daily.  Average 40 minutes (ala Julia Cameron The Artist Way and Writing For Life) YES Started May 20.  Probably would not have jumped into NaNo and ROW80 without having had a month of morning pages behind me. Must must must watch my posture.  No hunching over.  No leaning on elbows. But the very fact that I've hung on to this YES throughout the crisis' is PROOF that I am committed to the writing and still belong in ROW80
• Storydreaming with notebook for noting ideas for characters or scenes. (ala Robert Owen Butler From Where You Dream)  30 minutes per day NO for over two weeks.  (The notebook is the key to this goal as without it the storydreams go to the same place night dreams go an hour after waking.)
• Working on the Fruits of the Spirit (aka FOS) Storyworld Bible at least 30 minutes per day at least 5 days per week.  I'm sure this will expand as I get involved but I need to set a minimum for that jumpstart. NO for over two weeks  (still hoping to make this and storydreaming  my ROW80 main project for the remainder of this round as I need a substantial start on it in time to use it for Preptober and NaNo next Round.)  Three weeks ago the reason was days of pain.  The following week the reason was pain and side-effects of steroid treatment for pain.  Last week it's a tooth infection going on for over a week now.  This week is the chaos and the work around preparing for a HUD inspection under threat of eviction if I fail again.
• Weekly Artist Date (ala Julia Cameron)  This is about doing something to recharge your creative battery.  I'll go into more detail in one of the check-ins. NOPE  Altho I must admit to being mightly stimulated creatively by handling a whole caboodle of my creative projects in craft and writing and reading as I moved their component parts around, handling some items for the first time since I placed them in the first several months after the move in 2021.
• A minimum of 5 minutes of physical activity daily.  Either a walk outside with my caregiver or a session on my mini-tramp, or pacing the floor between front and back door. YES (may need to look at upping the expectation soon.  this is getting too easy.)  Solid yes in spite of tooth infection and feeling like I have the flu.  Definitely need to up this eventually.  But right now I need at least one easy YES to keep me in this game.  -- Between Tuesday morning at 9am and Wednesday at 4am I was active 5-15 at a time with 5-30 minutes rest breaks.  I do believe that having kept up this goal made that possible.
• I want to reengage with my blog so: Two blog posts per week besides the two check-ins. One about encountering other people's stories via print, video or audio which can include formal reviews.  The other about a current fiber art WIP or about one of my personal challenges: widowhood, independent living with visual impairment and autism and issues related to health and aging among them.  NOPE  (I've continued to choose reading over blogging.  I've been finishing 2 to 3 books a week so there is plenty of fodder for reviews. I think the main hurdle is my personal issue with transitions that is part of my high functioning autism.  (this Last week the main reason for NO was the tooth infection with pain and flu-like symptoms including extreme fatigue.  This week it is the chaos and time involved in the prep for the inspection.