I’m proud to say that 2023 is the year I wrote myself home. This newsletter has lots to do with it. But even before I restarted this outlet, I had been hacking away at the wilderness that grows over the neglected patch of creativity I’d been meaning to reclaim some day. It’s been a process many years in the making that I’ll write about in a future post. But for now, yay to making it through. 🥳
I am a planner, as many of you know: I do not enjoy surprises. I’m not compulsive about having everything in order. I just like to know where I think I’m headed, about when I should arrive, and whether I’ll need anything along the way. Life is a journey yet as the adage goes, life is also “what happens when we’re busy making other plans”. I live by the paper planner but have a high risk tolerance that allows for the unexpected (because I work with people and they are by nature unpredictable).
2023 was the fifth year of my 10 Year Path, the Year of the Rabbit 🙋🏻♀️. This was the year to take advantage of my cosmic alliances. I think I did pretty well. I want to share with you some things that went well in case they will be useful to you.
My second brain
First off, I’m a Notion newbie and bought Easlo’s Second Brain template to get started. I was able to parse out my life by domain and set goals/projects within them and then drill down even further for tasks to help me reach them. This was quite granular and I wasn’t complete about filling it in for all aspects. Two things really worked though:
1. I wrote each goal as an affirmation.
2. I made a set of rules to follow.
An affirmative statement does the two-in-one job of naming the goal and visualizing oneself having accomplished it. For writing: I publish original writing, with a sub-task of developing a daily writing routine. This manifested in spending the first 20 minutes of my day journaling, with many journal entries turning into newsletter posts here. The journal was mostly digital within Notion or in the spiral notebook I carry around.
My rules
• Rule #1: Try your best.
• Rule #2: Do not start anything after 4:30 pm.
• Rule #3: Do not start anything within 10 minutes of a pre-scheduled block.
• Rule #4: Have fun.
These boundary-setting rules gave me a cutoff time for my work day and kept me from being late to pre-scheduled meetings—even if they were with myself.
My body doubles
The other software that really advanced my plans this year was Focusmate. This is a global, virtual coworking scheduler, a cross between Zoom and Chat Roulette. The free version allows for three sessions per week, but I immediately upgraded to paid.
Many of those pre-scheduled blocks are deep work sessions where I’m developing strategy, writing reports, and creating budgets. Some of them are task bundles like sending out invoices, updating the website, and returning calls.
For each of these sessions, I can pre-book a 20, 50, or 75-minute session with someone who will hold me accountable for completing the work. It’s been amazing. The 20-minute journal sessions at the beginning of my days are some of these blocks.
My muse
Every year I choose a folkloric character to be my muse. They become the moral compass and viewpoint from which I live my days. One year it was Wolverine, the shapeshifting, mannish fool-god of Labradorian lore. Another year it was Raven (in all manifestations). For 2023, instead of a Trickster character from lore, I decided on a real person, someone to model my life by. I chose Edward Gorey.
I chose him because he had style and gravitas. His art was singular and appealed to both the refined and pedestrian tastes. He was his quirky self and his estate continues to maintain his spirit.
In 2024, lore and pop culture will overlap for me as I channel Loki ala Tom Hiddleston. I am Loki at the end of season in, in all my power, with everything in my grasp.
Loki Season 2 Episode 6 Glorious Purpose Final Scene
My team
No one goes it alone. I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did this year without a stellar support network. This includes my colleagues on various projects who have all been great to work with. In addition to them and my family, I have my stitch and bitch aunties, and friends with “benefits” – web developer, fundraiser, editor, organizer, and others. I’ve been able to ring them with whatever I’m puzzling on and somehow we get things done. I have been really blessed to be in a community that can supply me with soup when I’m sick, that can toast with me when something goes right, and that can think through problems with me when I’m stuck.
Other gains I’ve made this year:
Got the itsy-bitsy Cake Safe for better tiered cake transport-–used it for my first wedding cake
Learned how to make Instagram reels-–here’s one of my favorites
Conquered the New York Times Letterboxed game-–I realized it can be completed consistently in two turns
Got engaged—we’re getting married in September. 🍾
So many other things happened this year including celebrating 10 years of Group Camp with our summer camping buddies and adopting a kitty, but there’s only so much to put in a post. Hopefully I’ll do a better job logging 2024 as I go.
In the photo above, a summer potluck reunion featuring a two-tier Flowerfetti cake I made for the occasion. I hope no one minds that I posted it (taken by Dylan Woodrow). Here’s to the many gatherings that give our lives meaning.
Thank you for sharing the inner workings of your planful life! You are an inspiration for living consciously and intentionally and reflectively. I'm an Obsidian user for a number of reasons (but likely would have been fine with Notion). I'll have to check out that second brain book. I love the accountability service you reference. Excellent idea! I need it! I choose an animal when it serves me for however long it matches my development. Mine is a crab for now since I'm melting in mid-life melancholy way too often (crabs pull apart at the seams and molt and that seemed like a better analogy for me than a snake or the caterpillar and the chrysalis). I love Ed Gorey!! Have you been to the house?
I haven’t been to the house yet but follow them closely on FB, plan to make it some day. I love the idea of continuous molting bc we are never the same person twice, even if we look it on the outside to everyone else.