Words Are Magic!

 

Words truly are magic. I’ve believed that my entire life. Well-written words have the power to transport a reader to another place and time, to evoke feelings of love, hate, hurt, anger, and everything in between, and to teach us about ourselves, other people, and the world all around us. If that’s not magic, I don’t know what is.

I started writing when I was in 4th or 5th grade. First, it was poems and limericks, then it evolved into short stories told to me by my friends. I loved bringing their stories to life on paper. By the time I was in high school, I was writing lyrics for songs, journaling my daily life, and taking copious notes for all my studies. Writing was how I expressed myself. It was how I learned. It was how I dreamed.

I began my dreadful attempt at writing a novel in high school. My friends read it and thought it was great. I didn’t finish it until I was in my 20s, and I quickly found that shopping a novel without an agent took more time than I had to devote to it, so it sat in a closet or my storage shed for nearly 40 years. I decided long ago that it wasn’t worth pursuing. It’s so bad, I’ve thought about burning it more than once, but I put so much work into it that I can’t. It’s also how I first met my husband (a long story for another day), but even he was never allowed to read it. It’s that bad.

I think my writing has improved significantly since then, but I’ve found that my passion doesn’t lie in telling fairy tales to lonely teenage girls. My real impetus is in telling the story of my life, sharing the lessons I’ve learned, and helping others who might need it. I think that’s the mother (or the crone) in me coming out. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve recovered from them. I’ve been hurt, and I’ve recovered from that, too. I have wisdom and experience worth sharing, and Modern Musings provides me with the platform to do so.

In more recent years, I’ve used my words to fix my intentions, set goals, and make plans. I write out lists for groceries, tasks to be completed, and the weekly menu. Writing helps me exert just a little bit of control over what might be an otherwise chaotic life. I use one of our Modern Musings Words Have Power journals to write my daily gratitudes and affirmations, which helps me stay grounded and keeps me from sinking into the negativity and depression that comes so easily to me.  I have a wide assortment of APNs (all-purpose notebooks) in which I jot down thoughts, inspirations, and notes as they occur to me. And I often transcribe those notes into other journals and notebooks where they are sorted into the appropriate categories and expanded upon as needed. And yes, I still keep a journal into which I write about my grief, my journey through life, and especially the revelations and insights my writing has brought to me.

Magic. That’s what writing is. It is a gift that fills my heart and overflows, allowing me to share it with others. It heals. It grows. It shares. The magic of writing absorbs my sorrow and my joy, transforming them into something new. Something greater than what it was when I wrote simple words on a piece of paper. This magic is in all of us if we just let it out. It doesn’t have to be pretty or fancy (did I mention the ugly novel?). It just has to be real. You can start small: lists, plans, gratitudes, or even your intentions. Just write. And write some more. And then just watch as the magic begins to happen.

Words Have Power!

 

In our weekly podcast, Amber, Christen, and I talk a lot about manifesting our best lives and that we use scripting or journaling to set our intentions. We also write out affirmations and gratitudes. I, for one, do a lot of writing; I generally have 7-8 journals going at any given time, each with its own specific purpose and style, so I’m always looking for new journals to track my progress, set my intentions, log my tarot layouts, and more.

One of the journals I use is our Modern Musings’ Words Have Power journal. It was designed for scripting and has 86 lined pages, making it perfect for my daily Gratitude and Affirmation practice. 

Hal Elrod’s Miracle Morning S.A.V.E.R.S inspired this practice. Each morning, after my prayers and meditation, I write out three things I am grateful for, three things I would like to accomplish, and one affirmation. It’s a great way to start my day with gratitude and intention.

In another journal, I document my accomplishments at the end of the day. I find that I have some pretty high expectations about how much I should accomplish in one day – it’s never limited to the three things I list in the morning. My to-do lists read more like War and Peace, and I tend to beat myself up over the tasks I don’t complete. But when I think long and hard, I know that I’ve accomplished a lot, often finishing tasks that weren’t even on the list in the first place. So, rather than be angry with myself for not managing to do x, y, and z, I started a practice of cataloging everything I accomplished at the end of the day. Wow, was that an eye-opener! When I end my day by listing everything I did, whether it was on my to-do list or not, I feel much more productive, and I can go to sleep knowing that I've done my best.

Do you script or journal? If not, I highly recommend it! To begin your scripting or journaling practice, try one of our Words Have Power journals, which are now available on Amazon.com:

https://a.co/d/aNQFkFP

https://a.co/d/2MCw0Dn

https://a.co/d/0M736E6

https://a.co/d/ikTv0eG

Packing Light but Keeping It Crafty

This summer the Modern Musings girls are going on a trip! We just booked our hotel in Marfa, Texas and we are so excited to go on this adventure together, just us girls – no husbands, kids, or pets! I typically bring my craft supplies with me and work on a project during the down time in the hotel room. This usually includes my travel journal, a little supply  bag with glue, scissors, a pencil, markers, little scraps of paper, washi tape and some ephemera. I may even bring a stamp or two. Oh…and stickers…can’t forget stickers. The list goes on and on…

Actually, the last couple of trips that I have been on, I brought my little scrapbook album and way too many other supplies. I had these grand ideas of scrapbooking on my trip and completing the travel journal as my trip unfolded. I think I brought too much, thus giving myself decision fatigue.  Yes, I did spend a little bit of time actually scrapbooking, but what ended up happening was I started a new travel journal and never finished it. This resulted in yet another unfinished project.

I made a resolution to myself to not start any more new projects, though. So thinking back, I actually busted my goal, which is a little disappointing. The plan was to not start anything new. I am slowly but surely knocking off projects, one at a time so there is that. I am really proud of myself for completing some of my projects. This is a big deal for me as I am the queen of not finishing things. 

I set a goal and I'm sticking to it this time, though. It might be a little challenging to not do some type of craft while we are on this trip. I may still need to find something to do to keep my hands busy. The projects I am working on are too big to take on a road trip like this. And of course I will still scrapbook this trip, but not at this time. I am going to save the scrapbooking for when I am at home and have all my supplies close at hand. This time around I‘m going to keep it simple by only hand journaling the trip. I am going to bring my small journal, some smooth writing pens and pencils and I will just write my heart out. I can still take pictures; I’m just not going to print them until the time is right. 

I think the nice thing about keeping it simple will be no mess to pick up, and less things to lug around. Since we are going on a road trip, we need to get all our things to fit into one car comfortably, and the less I bring, the better for everyone. This means more time can be spent being in the moment with my mom and Amber, relaxing, and creating new memories. 

Do you have any summer plans or are you looking forward to getting away sometime soon? Have you thought about what you will bring with you to work on during the down time? Do you have any journaling tips that you can give me? Drop me a message below in the comments. 

Screaming in my Car and Other Nonsense

Sometimes I scream in my car. Everyone does it. Especially, in Dallas traffic on days that you just want to get home at a decent time and others are on their cell phone or in la-la land not paying attention to what they are doing. However, I am usually screaming at life’s frustrations.

I have a friend going through a rough patch in her life right now. This thought popped up one night when she was venting her frustrations and she asked me, “Do you ever just yell at yourself?” It took me a minute to realize it, but I do. I yell at myself quite often, usually in the car, and I told her this. She thought that it was uncommon to do so. I said that it wasn’t. We need to get the pent-up demons out. If screaming in your car helps, I am all for it.

Another thing that I do when I am going through enormous emotions that need to be released from my mind is write poetry. When I write poetry, it is like a scream or a catharsis of emotions tumbling out of my brain and onto paper (or the notepad on my phone). To me, the process of writing poetry has always been a visceral experience. I don’t think when I write it; I only feel. Sometimes I will go back and move lines around and add words so that the poem makes sense, but I don’t plan out a poem when I am writing it. I let raw emotion take over. When I am screaming in my car, it is the same experience. I need to let it out. It is my own form of shadow work.

This week on the podcast, we delved deep into the thought process of shadow work. What is shadow work? Shadow work is working with your unconscious mind to uncover the parts of yourself that you repress and hide from yourself. Or, your “shadow.” The shadow archetype, according to Carl Jung, exists as a “part of the unconscious mind and is composed of repressed ideas, weaknesses, desires, instincts, and shortcomings. The shadow forms out of our attempts to adapt to cultural norms and expectations.”

In other words, it is not culturally acceptable to go out in public and scream until you cannot scream anymore or go to a public place and just start throwing chairs (which may or may not be something I think about often). No, we compartmentalize our baser instincts into a shadow. Jung’s Collective Unconscious, or archetypes, are how I saw my own brain before I ever took a psychology class in college and learned about them. I called these pieces of my mind “compartments” where I stored experiences and information. I even wrote a poem when I was younger that perfectly described the shadow.

Why should we work on this shadow? Shadow work and understanding your inner darkness are crucial for your personal development and your mental health, but it can only happen when you are ready and willing to face that part of yourself. Trust me, I know. I ran from my shadow and my trauma for years and I’m only now scratching the surface of my inner psyche. In early 2021, I began seeing a counselor and it was the first time I had seen one in almost twenty years. I had many things to work out and I am still working them out. I needed help and admitting it was a great first step in conquering my inner demons. Do you have to go to counseling to participate in shadow work? No, I had been journaling and writing poetry for years, but sometimes we get overwhelmed and need extra help. Shadow work is not easy or fun. It will require you to look at the innermost workings of yourself that you have been compartmentalizing. I am still working on my shadow daily and it is a slow process to work out.

I would like to hear from our readers. Are you participating in shadow work? Do you have any tips and tricks? Let’s continue the conversation below.

If you would like to know more about shadow work and access some journal prompts to begin the process of healing, check out this article from Better Up.

My Awakening: A Journey Through Shadow Work

Have you heard the term shadow work thrown around the internet lately? I know that I had never heard of it until some time in 2020 when a video suggestion popped up on my YouTube recommendations. I thought that it sounded dark, mysterious, and up my alley so I clicked on it to see what it was all about. At first I thought it could be dark witchcraft… you know, working in the shadows, a less favorable type of witchcraft or even something to do with working with a book of shadows, also known as “grimoire” to some. 

Boy, was I wrong. It has nothing to do with witchcraft and everything to do with self healing and personal growth. I recommend that you check out the video by Christina Lopes, DPT, MPH, a fantastic YouTuber who posts regularly on the aforementioned subject matter. Since watching that particular video, I have dug a little deeper and done quite a bit of soul searching. I thought I would share some cliff notes on the subject. I encourage you to check out the podcast airing Wednesday this week because we go into detail on the subject and how we apply shadow work in our own lives.

What is the Shadow or Shadow Self?

• Phrase coined by Carl Jung, Psychologist

• Represents the unconscious parts of our personalities

• The ego does not acknowledge these character traits as part of itself

• Specific happenings in ones life during their youth imprint on the personality

• Characteristics that are deemed “bad” are rejected by the ego

• These characteristics and beliefs form the shadow

• Shadow form takes over when a person is triggered

• Triggers can be other peoples actions as well as an experience. 

Why should you care about your shadow?

• You are having a hard time changing a behavior, breaking an old pattern

• You are struggling to achieve a goal

• You are feeling stuck in life

• To improve your self worth 

• You have a bias toward other people, gender, races, religion etc.

• You might not like how your shadow reacts to certain triggers

• You see a shift in your mood and want to find out why

What is Shadow work:

• Identifying what those triggers are 

• Acknowledging the deep rooted programing

• Accepting the flaws and parts of you that are not “your best”

• Working with your personality vs. against it

What is a Dark Night of the Soul?

• From 16th Century Poem by Catholic, San Juan de la Cruz

• Oftentimes triggered by a sudden life change

• Opportunity for growth and change in your life

• A chance to evaluate your values and perspective

• A deep dive into your spiritual beliefs

• Those going through this may be awakening to a new perspective on life

• Not just one night, could take longer to pass through this phase

What is an Awakening?

• Increased awareness of oneself and others

• Becoming more aware of one's thoughts, feelings and actions

• Greater compassion for others 

• Seeing connections in life that you were oblivious to before

• Finding more purpose and meaning in one’s life 

What are some things to do during these times of change and deep introspective thought?

• Meditate

• Spend time outside in nature

• Journal

• Read up on subject matters that relate to your awakening

• Connect with others, seek counseling, therapy, or a trusted friend

• Seek out spiritual guidance

Have you ever had a spiritual awakening? Have you ever practiced shadow work? I have been working on my own shadow work, and even more so since I read Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose. I have found it to be beneficial towards my personal development and also help me be a better leader, spouse, mother, daughter and friend. I am always looking forward to continuing my journey of growth and development. I hope that you can find this article useful in your own journey. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Journaling to Clear Your Mind and Uplift Your Spirit

 

This week on the podcast, we talked about self-care and how it can mean a million different things. Amber asked Christen and I what we do for self-care, and I mentioned that I like to journal. Journaling has always been an important way for me to deal with stress and past trauma. By allowing myself to express any intense emotions, I am able to clear my head, get things off my chest, see situations more clearly, and, often, realize that things are quite as bad as they seem. I love to write, so telling the stories that make me who I am is important to me. Journaling is easy to do; anyone can do it. All you need is a pen and some paper. Or a computer if you’d rather type.

Another form of journaling I do is art journaling. I’ve mentioned before that I have participated in a 365 project that was essentially creating art inside the pages of a published book. It was meant to be a year-long project that had me completing one page every day, but it came to a screeching halt about halfway through, and I’ve been adding to it sporadically ever since. I’ve posted all the pages I’ve done to date on my Flickr account if you’re curious.

In 2022, I started keeping an affirmation journal. It all started when Amber gifted me with a set of Mindful Messages cards, which I’ve also mentioned previously. The messages inspired me to keep a journal of affirmations, which I illustrated by using some of my extensive collection of rubber stamps (and a few hand-drawn images). It was a great way to encourage me to be creative and to use some of the stamps that had never been used before. After I exhausted the Mindful Messages cards several times over, I started looking for affirmations from other sources. I have loved creating positive messages for myself, and I think this little book will be a great asset when I need a little reminder that I am enough.

This year, I plan to complete the affirmation journal since there are still about 20 pages left in the book, but I probably won’t work on it daily. Instead, I think I might just go back to my regular journaling where I decompress my day and dig into some things from my past. I think it will help me let go of some burdens and baggage that have been weighing me down. It’s time to lighten my load.

What about you? Do you do any creative or journaling projects as part of your self-care routine? I’d love to hear about it. Comment below, or join us on the MMC Chat page!

Creatively Flexing My Muscles

This week on the podcast we talked about taking our crafts when we travel. I have to admit, I’m a proCRAFTinator. I just made that word up. I honestly don’t normally craft when I travel. Last summer, when I went to New Orleans, I took my craft bag with me on the trip and didn’t open it once. That being said, I do take some sort of craft when I travel…and that means across town as well.

I am a beast of burden. I carry my backpack with me everywhere, and in that backpack, I may as well have bricks for all the use its contents do for me when I travel. Every day to work I carry my backpack full of crafty things and occasionally I will carry my craft bag with me as well. In my backpack, I have practical things that I need for work such as my laptop and planner but I also have a plethora of other things I carry with me that I don’t necessarily use but hope for a fleeting moment of free time to get a little craft in.

Crafty things I always have on me:

• All three sets of my pens: In my backpack, I carry three sets of pens in three different pen bags in case I need them. I carry my gel pens (Papermate™ and Pilot™) in case I want to write something down in my APN (all-purpose notebook) in many different colors. I carry my flair pens because sometimes you need a bit of flair instead of gel. I also have my Sharpie™ pens because they can be used for a completely different purpose than my other two sets of pens.
• Scissors and glue: You never know when you need to cut or glue something. If I remove either of these things from my backpack, I always find an occasion when I should have had them.
• My list journal: This is a given. My list journal is one of my current projects that I am always working on. I carry it with me if I get to add to it. I also use all three sets of my pens in this journal. I mentioned this list journal on our “Current Projects” podcast.
• My art journal and pastels: I usually carry my art journal with me as well, and if it is not in my backpack, it is in my car. I don’t use this journal regularly, but it is always nice to have it when I get the inspiration to draw or collage (this is where the scissors and glue come in).
• My All-Purpose Notebook: I carry this with me everywhere. Other than my planner and gel pens, this is the one thing I carry with me consistently. I started keeping an APN when I was in middle school but I started carrying it with me everywhere when I was in high school. The full ones are dated, numbered, and cataloged on my bookshelf.
• My Happy Planner™: This is where I do all of my planning. I mentioned my planner and how it transformed my life on my Day Planners blog back in April. I carry my planner with me everywhere and I keep everything I do not keep in my APN in my planner such as my daily activities, my classroom activities, and my grocery lists.  Sometimes I have things in both.

Other things I carry with me everywhere:

• A book: I always have a book in my purse.
• Crossword puzzles: I always have my ColorCross™ book with me.

My takeaway is that you don’t always have time to craft when you travel, but, I have the things I enjoy with me in my bag in case I get those little stolen moments to craft (or read). I want to hear from our readers. What do you take with you for your downtime when you travel? Let’s continue the conversation below or on our Facebook Group: MMC Chat.

Projects in Progress - An Update

This week on the podcast, Christen asked us about our current projects, and we got into a lengthy discussion about what we’ve been working on, unfinished projects, and projects that we finally gave up on. I thought this would be a great opportunity to share some updates on several of the projects and topics we’ve covered since we began this podcast and blog last November. 

December Daily: I just posted an update on this project in August, but in case you missed it, yes, I am still obsessed, and yes, I did get up early on August 31 to order my kits. I got almost everything I wanted, but I was very disappointed that a set of stencils was already sold out by the time I added it to my box and checked out. Now it’s just a waiting game for November to arrive so I can start the classes that go along with all the fun supplies I bought, and I’ll probably also begin making a few foundation pages so I can just print photos and add some quick journaling once December finally comes. Until then, I can start sketching out a few ideas and I can get this craft room cleaned up so I have someplace to work! But that’s another project altogether….

One Little Word:  I’m still working on my OLW project. September’s prompt feels particularly difficult to me because it is a photo prompt, and I am having a hard time concentrating on how best to capture the prompt phrases with photography in a meaningful way. I don’t have time to get out the camera during the day when the lighting is right, and everything I’ve tried to capture so far has not done the job. I think part of the problem is that I just haven’t had the time to sit with my feelings and my camera, and so the photos I’ve taken have not been anything more than superficial and bland. In the meantime, I just keep taking pictures and hoping that when I come back to them at the end of the month, I will have captured the essence of the prompts and will be happy with them. I usually am, but it’s just so hard.

PowerSheets and Happy Planners:  December Daily isn’t the only project with product launches in the fall.  In the past few weeks, I’ve also scoped out the new planner I will be using for 2023 – this gorgeous disc-bound beauty from Happy Planner. I love that it is minimalistic with neutral colors so I can personalize it to my own tastes. I also love the hard cover, which makes it much more sturdy and portable than the traditional Happy Planners. 

The 2023 PowerSheets won’t launch until October 12, but coming up on October 1 is the quarterly refresh. I’ve been thinking a lot about what goals I will revise, drop, and adopt for this last quarter of 2022. I started the last quarter with most of the same goals I have been chasing since the start of the year and I was all geared up to blast through them with a surge of productivity and motivation, but before July was over, I received some news that had me changing my perspective. Suddenly, many of those goals were on hold or were not important at all, and other priorities took their place. Now, I’m taking a hard look at where I spend my time and what is really important to me, and I’m thinking a reboot might be in order.

Christmas Cards:  I have a confession…I did not send Christmas cards last year. Yes, we did an episode about cards, and I talked about how I send dozens of them every year, but when push came to shove, I just didn’t get mine done in time. Blame it on the time-consuming project of moving my mother out to a memory-care facility, moving our dear friend, Koy, in, tending to Koy’s medical and social needs, our bout with COVID in November, or even the remodeling project that that started in November and didn’t end until January, I just did not finish my cards. So here they still sit, waiting for me to finish them and send them out this year.  What I did do last year was to write a nice letter (with an apology for the lack of cards) and call it done. I also spent some time this summer reassessing the design of the cards to lessen the assembly time, and I picked up where I left off. This was a good thing, because I made a critical mistake when I cut one of the pieces, and I had to cut about 150 pieces over again. Needless to say, I am still working on the cards, bit by bit, and hope to have them finished in November.

Mindful Messages Journal:  I think I mentioned this on the podcast, but I’m not sure. Last year for Christmas, Amber gave me a deck of “Mindful Messages” oracle cards. This lovely deck features suggestive reminders to stay positive, grounded, and grateful while encouraging independence, authenticity, and individuality. I started the year by adding them to my daily card draw along with my tarot and oracle cards, and I quickly decided I wanted to use them as a jumping-off point for a little creative journaling each day. An A5 dot-grid journal made a perfect canvas for a little stamping, and I’ve tasked myself with journaling a positive and meaningful affirmation every day, illustrated by a stamped or hand-drawn image. The artwork is doubly useful: it helps cement the affirmation in my memory and mindset, and it is forcing me to use the thousands of stamps I’ve collected over the years, some of which have never been opened. When I can’t find a relevant stamp, I either piece an image together using multiple stamps, or I sketch an appropriate icon or symbol. It’s been a fun and creative challenge for me, and I often flip back through previous pages, further embedding the positive messages in my psyche. It truly is a win-win!

Cleaning and Organizing:  Yeah…no. The plan in January was to get my house back in order after all the renovations and the revolving door of housemates, but everything seems to have taken so much longer than I thought it would.  I finally got my curtains hung and my living and dining rooms pieced back together just in time for our recent Labor Day BBQ, but I still have a stack of artwork and photos that need to be hung in the spare bedroom, and my garage is still stacked waist-high with boxes. I ask for help, and I get crickets. On top of this, my craft room/office/studio is still overrun by boxes of my mother’s mementos that need to be sorted, cleaned, and…well, I’m not sure what I’m going to do with all of it. This “organization” project (or projects) is going to have to stay on hold until I finish my most pressing project – my taxes. More on that later….

Weight Loss:  Okay, so here’s one project that has been going pretty well. I’ve talked about my struggles with weight loss, diabetes, arthritis, and my busy schedule. I may have even mentioned my extreme dislike for exercise or anything that causes sweat, but did I tell you about my love-hate relationship with medication? On the one hand, there are some pretty fantastic medications that help me with my blood sugar, but on the other, they are very, very expensive. Many medications cause a plethora of side effects that are miserable enough to make The Hulk cry. One such drug had the horrible side effect of causing severe edema in my legs and feet, and the drug itself was so ineffective (but cheap!) that it didn’t even really work. I wound up gaining 35 pounds that immediately started to drop off again once I changed medications, albeit very slowly.  I’m still 12 pounds over where I was this time last year, but it is coming off. Still, it’s very frustrating to see your hard work go to naught, and to have the medicine that is supposed to make you better actually make you worse. All in all, I am very fortunate to have settled on a drug cocktail that is working well, with (mostly) tolerable side effects, and although I am going to have to get more diligent if I’m going to meet my year-end weight loss goal, I could still do it.

Unfinished Craft Projects:  This topic ties into so many episode topics that we’ve already covered…self-care, balancing home and work, motivation…the list could go on and on. I have a craft room full of unfinished projects, many of which I still want to tackle if I could only do a better job of managing my time. I keep telling myself, “If I could just finish…” then I would have time for…but I’m not sure that’s even true. Things, tasks, responsibilities, people, and problems always seem to have a way of appearing at the most inopportune time – it never ends. And while everyone agrees that self-care is important, it does not pay the bills, wash the laundry, or write that business proposal, so most of the time, that self-care or downtime (or whatever you want to call it) has to wait. I did manage to sneak in some mindless diamond painting while I edited podcasts, finishing a piece I started at Christmas last year, and I have almost finished binding a table runner I started about 18 months ago. I’ve also been trying very hard to catch up on (or at least not get further behind with) my weekly Project Life photo album. I’m going to have to start working a little faster if I’m going to get caught up by the end of the year.

Travel Business:  After a nearly two-year hiatus due to COVID, my cruise business is finally picking up again. Last month, I signed on with the GreenMan Studios in Southlake to organize a holistic cruise, and I’m working with a couple of scholastic groups for scholarship fundraiser cruises. Families are starting to want to travel more, too, so I’m staying pretty busy. I’m not complaining because this is the kind of work I love to do, and I’ve been missing it. Still, it’s hard to get back into the swing of things, and with so many other projects demanding my time, I’m worried about what might have to take a backseat. You can bet it won’t be something I want to pass off to someone else or just drop altogether. It will likely be one of those fun creative projects I’ve been looking forward to finishing up. Oh well….

Bookkeeping and Taxes:  I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate this right now. Do you get that I hate it? Normally, this would not be a big deal, but when my mother moved in with us in January 2020, I was just getting ready to sit down and dig into my 2019 taxes. I kept trying to work on them, but she was such a distraction, and then COVID happened. Not only was I incapable of working on the 2019 taxes, but the 2020 weekly bookkeeping fell woefully behind, and I didn’t get 2019 finished until my extension expired in the fall. Then I started in on the 2020 bookkeeping but still had the same problems…there were too many people in my house, too much noise, too many distractions, and I just got further and further behind. I finished the 2020 bookkeeping just in time to file my taxes in October (thank GOD for extensions!), and then I started on 2021. That’s where I am now. I don’t have all the same people in the house, but the distractions are still there…cleaning up and restoring order after the renovations, medical appointments, more medical appointments, friends, family, and now it looks like I might need to move Mom again in the next few months. I’m currently adding the July receipts into my accounting software, and I think I have about two weeks to get it all wrapped up so the accountant can get it sent off to the IRS in time. It takes a full 12-hour day of work with no distractions to do one month’s worth of bookkeeping. I have no idea how I will get it done.

So that’s the basics of all the projects I’m working on right now. There are probably a ton of little things I forgot, but I think you can see the bigger picture…I’ve got my hands in a lot of different pies. Some are golden and delicious, and some are pure mud, but I guess that’s the essence of life anyway, isn’t it? We have a lot of stuff we must do in order to afford the stuff we want to do, or maybe just so we can appreciate the stuff we really enjoy. In the end, it’s all just stuff and it is what we make of it.

Are you as busy as I am? Do you have a lot of projects in progress? Are there projects you hate but you still have to do them? Tell us about it in the comments, or start a conversation on the MMC Chat Facebook group.