Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends and family! I hope you have much to be thankful for this year. As we move through the seasons at the speed of life, give yourself some time (even just an afternoon) to rest and reflect before the Christmas rush begins in earnest. 

Wishing you and yours continued health and happiness, laughter and love.

The Return of NOvember

Last December, when I was deciding on my writer word for 2021, "discipline" felt like a good choice. After the mess of 2020, I thought that imposing a sense of order on the new year would make all the difference. And it did. For about 2 weeks.

As it turns out, discipline was not a great word for me this year. I should have gone with "patience" or "leeway" (as in giving myself a lot of it). Because, as you know, things were still challenging in 2021. Thank goodness much of the political furor died down, at least temporarily, but the world is still messy. And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who ate too much chocolate and streamed too many shows.

But I'm not throwing in the 2021 towel just yet! Hence the return of NOvember. "No" often gets a bad wrap as a punitive word with negative energy behind it. But it can be such a helpful tool. So I've decided to buckle down in NOvember and say No as often as possible. 

Of course, the phrasing of the question make all the difference. If I ask myself if I should have salad instead of fries, instead of the other way around, that rather defeats the purpose. So, here's a more helpful list of my November questions:

• Is (fill in the blank) a good use of my time and/or money?
• Does (fill in the blank) bring me closer to my goals?
• Will (fill in the blank) make me happy?
• Does (fill in the blank) serve me?

Anyway, you get the gist. Hopefully by the time December's season of excess rolls around, I'll feel like I've earned a few indulgent yeses. 

What does November have in store for you?

And good luck to anyone on the NaNoWriMo wagon this year! You can do it!!