Ramona, you are doing what you can with what you have. That you are still doing it speaks very well of you. Keep it up!
Also, while I liked to listen to podcasts while I commuted, since retirement I have not found myself in circumstances where I can devote brain cells to listening and absorbing while not doing much of anything else. IOW, I don't listen to podcasts anymore. So, sadly, I cannot feel bad about not hearing yours.
And FWIW, I find the key to finding files is consistent naming. Always name a file by the subject. Or the project, if that pertains. Or the title, if it's a story or article. Or content, because content is generic and easy to search on, unless it's kind of hard to sum all of it up in 32 characters or fewer. (IOW, as you've probably guessed, I lose files all the time. 🙄)
Thanks. I forgot to mention that I'm not even sure what a podcast is. All I did was record a few minutes of me talking into my laptop microphone. Giving it a fancy name isn't going to make it any better!
Way to tell it like it is, Ramona. The impacts of grief are so far beyond what we ever would think. You writing and posting this is huge under the circumstances. Please, give yourself as much credit as you can muster. 8 months might as well be 8 weeks in the crazy grief process. Eight years later, I still can't find things I know I carefully saved and "organized" in that first year of grieving, even though my life is for all intents and purposes "normal" again. Be patient with your wounded self. My grief counselor told me I would never be the same Me that I was before my husband died, and she has been 100% correct. It will take time to get to know the new You. Best!
I hear ya! No husband. No death but a friend who died over the weekend I've been helping since February. And... there's a gal on here who has promoted a club that's only for paid subscribers. She's made headway in London and probably on here but she occasionally grants us unpaid subscribers with a blog or two trying to get us to pay. I'm not a huge fan of podcasts although I did hear Rachel Maddow's 2 ULTRA Friday and another one comes out today if I can figure how to get back to her... but an interesting thing happened this weekend for me. I pulled out my first diary when I was 12. I hadn't remembered that I wrote anything of value in it. I was wrong. I think we are ready when we are ready. You take care of you and your efforts will illuminate the journey. You're a comforting, available, worthwhile read. Best of luck to you. I hate the hype of having to connect writing to cash. It makes me run the other direction 23 hours of the day.
It's a journey, for sure, and not one I want to keep dwelling on, but there it is. Grief rules.
I love that you found and read your diary from that most vulnerable age. Isn't it like reading someone else's journal? You barely even remember feeling those feelings, but I'll bet the adult you is feeling super protective of the 12-year-old you. What a gift.
I'm always happy to see your comments. I'm glad you're here.
Grief does hold us tight, indeed. I'm glad you still have the energy spurring you on each morning. Any of us who get to read your spirit is gifted quite a gift. KNOW THAT. Someone who can tell it like it is and see a way forward. A glistening path forward. I don't know how I could have missed these details a few years ago. I was thinking, why keep it anymore. I'm so glad I've kept them all. This was something I wrote a few weeks ago... not for public consumption just yet but nonetheless:
"I thought today about using my wisdom with which I know myself and my life history, including what I know about my ancestry to read into my diaries, the code that lies within, not just btroom, but the moods and the hints, the breadcrumbs I left along the way when I knew I needed to write, but I didn’t have the time or self to write in that moment. To decipher my notes, along the way. Journalisa, Along the Way. The Guest in the House. The Guest In the School. The Guest In the Condo. In the Sorority. In the President’s seat. In Political Psychology class at UC Berkeley. In bed. In Coitus. So many places I’ve tried to leave notes along the way, throughout my discoveries and ambitions either glimpsed, accomplished, or ignored."
Thanks for sharing, Ramona. This has been an extremely taxing year for everyone. To add your loss on top must be incredibly difficult. Hang in there.
I'm at a very different stage of my life - early forties with two kids, 6 and 3 - and yet I'm grappling with the same writing challenges. Should I write more on Substack? Or less? Or try other channels? Should I play with a podcast? Monetize my newsletter? If I do those things how will I ever finish my novel?
I'm feeling a little worn out, I think, because I'm focusing too much on things I can't control. I need to put my head down, get back to the joy of writing, and focus on producing the best art I can. Thanks for the reminder.
I feel for you, having to juggle your sweet family and your writing needs. When my youngest daughter was small I took to writing children's stories and short essays ala Irma Bombeck. It was all I had the energy for. None of it got published, but I look at it now as training. LOL.
Your newsletter seems like the perfect place to share those conflicts with other writer-moms facing the same dilemmas.
But if your novel insists on being written, even with the distractions, it won't let up until you satisfy it. The nice thing about writing a novel when life leaves little time for it is that you can be working on it in your head as you do the day-to-day stuff. Can you work at night? I never could. But if you can, it's your time!
This honesty is what writing is all about. It's a connection to your readers, and all of us, through grief, through worry, through fear, have been in that place you describe. Thank you so much!
It's a journey, isn't it? Thank goodness we're all together where we can vent and celebrate and just hang out. I don't know what I would do without you all. ❤️️
Ramona, you are doing what you can with what you have. That you are still doing it speaks very well of you. Keep it up!
Also, while I liked to listen to podcasts while I commuted, since retirement I have not found myself in circumstances where I can devote brain cells to listening and absorbing while not doing much of anything else. IOW, I don't listen to podcasts anymore. So, sadly, I cannot feel bad about not hearing yours.
And FWIW, I find the key to finding files is consistent naming. Always name a file by the subject. Or the project, if that pertains. Or the title, if it's a story or article. Or content, because content is generic and easy to search on, unless it's kind of hard to sum all of it up in 32 characters or fewer. (IOW, as you've probably guessed, I lose files all the time. 🙄)
I loved this post Ramona! I hope you find your podcast!
Thanks. I forgot to mention that I'm not even sure what a podcast is. All I did was record a few minutes of me talking into my laptop microphone. Giving it a fancy name isn't going to make it any better!
LOL
I loved this post Ramona! I hope you find your lost podcast!
Way to tell it like it is, Ramona. The impacts of grief are so far beyond what we ever would think. You writing and posting this is huge under the circumstances. Please, give yourself as much credit as you can muster. 8 months might as well be 8 weeks in the crazy grief process. Eight years later, I still can't find things I know I carefully saved and "organized" in that first year of grieving, even though my life is for all intents and purposes "normal" again. Be patient with your wounded self. My grief counselor told me I would never be the same Me that I was before my husband died, and she has been 100% correct. It will take time to get to know the new You. Best!
Thank you, Pri. It's friends like you who keep us newbies from floundering. I so appreciate it.
I hear ya! No husband. No death but a friend who died over the weekend I've been helping since February. And... there's a gal on here who has promoted a club that's only for paid subscribers. She's made headway in London and probably on here but she occasionally grants us unpaid subscribers with a blog or two trying to get us to pay. I'm not a huge fan of podcasts although I did hear Rachel Maddow's 2 ULTRA Friday and another one comes out today if I can figure how to get back to her... but an interesting thing happened this weekend for me. I pulled out my first diary when I was 12. I hadn't remembered that I wrote anything of value in it. I was wrong. I think we are ready when we are ready. You take care of you and your efforts will illuminate the journey. You're a comforting, available, worthwhile read. Best of luck to you. I hate the hype of having to connect writing to cash. It makes me run the other direction 23 hours of the day.
It's a journey, for sure, and not one I want to keep dwelling on, but there it is. Grief rules.
I love that you found and read your diary from that most vulnerable age. Isn't it like reading someone else's journal? You barely even remember feeling those feelings, but I'll bet the adult you is feeling super protective of the 12-year-old you. What a gift.
I'm always happy to see your comments. I'm glad you're here.
Grief does hold us tight, indeed. I'm glad you still have the energy spurring you on each morning. Any of us who get to read your spirit is gifted quite a gift. KNOW THAT. Someone who can tell it like it is and see a way forward. A glistening path forward. I don't know how I could have missed these details a few years ago. I was thinking, why keep it anymore. I'm so glad I've kept them all. This was something I wrote a few weeks ago... not for public consumption just yet but nonetheless:
"I thought today about using my wisdom with which I know myself and my life history, including what I know about my ancestry to read into my diaries, the code that lies within, not just btroom, but the moods and the hints, the breadcrumbs I left along the way when I knew I needed to write, but I didn’t have the time or self to write in that moment. To decipher my notes, along the way. Journalisa, Along the Way. The Guest in the House. The Guest In the School. The Guest In the Condo. In the Sorority. In the President’s seat. In Political Psychology class at UC Berkeley. In bed. In Coitus. So many places I’ve tried to leave notes along the way, throughout my discoveries and ambitions either glimpsed, accomplished, or ignored."
Beautiful and profound. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your sharing it here. ❤️
Thanks for sharing, Ramona. This has been an extremely taxing year for everyone. To add your loss on top must be incredibly difficult. Hang in there.
I'm at a very different stage of my life - early forties with two kids, 6 and 3 - and yet I'm grappling with the same writing challenges. Should I write more on Substack? Or less? Or try other channels? Should I play with a podcast? Monetize my newsletter? If I do those things how will I ever finish my novel?
I'm feeling a little worn out, I think, because I'm focusing too much on things I can't control. I need to put my head down, get back to the joy of writing, and focus on producing the best art I can. Thanks for the reminder.
I feel for you, having to juggle your sweet family and your writing needs. When my youngest daughter was small I took to writing children's stories and short essays ala Irma Bombeck. It was all I had the energy for. None of it got published, but I look at it now as training. LOL.
Your newsletter seems like the perfect place to share those conflicts with other writer-moms facing the same dilemmas.
But if your novel insists on being written, even with the distractions, it won't let up until you satisfy it. The nice thing about writing a novel when life leaves little time for it is that you can be working on it in your head as you do the day-to-day stuff. Can you work at night? I never could. But if you can, it's your time!
I've done most of my novel writing at night, but lately I'm out of gas by 7pm. Very close to the end though. Just need to drive it home.
You'll do it, too!
This honesty is what writing is all about. It's a connection to your readers, and all of us, through grief, through worry, through fear, have been in that place you describe. Thank you so much!
It's a journey, isn't it? Thank goodness we're all together where we can vent and celebrate and just hang out. I don't know what I would do without you all. ❤️️
Take care of yourself. Plod gently xx
And you, dear friend. ❤️️