I recently fell into a "reading old posts hole," which means I procrastinated for a while by reading my old posts on this blog. (Fellow bloggers, don't deny that you've done it - we all do it. XD) As you may or may not have noticed, I've been absent from blogging for over a month now (due to busyness and a lack of motivation ugggh), and whilst I was in the depths of my reading old posts hole, I missed blogging. I missed coming up with exciting post ideas several times a month and having a blast putting those posts together. I missed talking with all of you in the comments. I missed my consistency, and I missed being motivated.
I'm not sure about the consistency part, lol, but I'm trying to get my motivation for blogging back. I'm trying to get the FUN of blogging back. And to do that, I'm going to take ideas that excite me and feel meaningful to me, and then I'm going to pour my heart into them.
Starting with a monthly recap of sorts that - unlike previous recaps I've done - has very little order to it. Prepare for a haphazard scattering of snippets and snapshots from my October!
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I've been learning to soak in the beauty of individual moments. As someone who thinks WAY more than she says, I often get so lost in my mind that I block out the sights and sounds and smells and feels of my reality - my RIGHT NOW - without really realizing it. But lately I feel like I've been slipping back into that simple enjoyment of losing myself in the right here and right now, choosing to loosen the grasp my chaotic mess of a mind has on me sometimes.
The feel of a book as I hold it in my hands. The comfiness of a blanket tucked against my legs. A glimpse of cloudy sky and swaying treetops through the window. The sound of a car driving past outside as I try to go to sleep.
There's a certain peace in allowing myself to clear my head and soak in the tiny beautiful moments of every day. The tiny blessings God sprinkles around so generously all the time. <3
Shout-out to Emma from missemmareadsalot for being such a huge inspiration to me in this regard!
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Evangeline wrote a wonderful (and super funny) post called 17 Things I've Learned in 17 Years.
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*CHURCH NOTES SNIPPET*
No better way to hear from God, to know His will and plan for my life, to know what I should and should not do and where I should and should not go, than by the Word of God.
Whereas zero blogging and not enough editing has been going on lately, MUCH reading has been happening. XD In accordance with the TBR I talked about in this post, I read The Lost Girl of Astor Street by Stephanie Morrill in September and very much enjoyed it. More recently, I've read two Alex Rider books and Wires and Nerve: Gone Rogue by Marissa Meyer, and now I've started reading Entwined by Heather Dixon (which is already proving to be the absolute perfect book for fall, ambiance-wise).
I'm also slowly making my way through the masterpiece that is Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. This is one to take your time through and SAVOR, that's for sure.
I didn't love this one, but it was certainly entertaining!
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Christine gushed about the King Midas retelling she's going to write for NaNoWriMo, and it sounds b r i l l i a n t.
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I can't just not talk about TØP, okay??? Their new album Trench came out early this month, and - to say more by saying less - I LOVE IT.
It's fun, it's fresh, and above all it's meaningful. There are so many hints, so many hidden messages, so many things to get us thinking. And I love how Tyler created a dystopian-esque world as the concept of the album - the world of Dema and Trench is so fascinating and symbolic.
Towards the end of "Leave The City" the first time I listened to the album, I realized, "Wait, this is it. This is the last song. I've... listened to this album in its entirety, and I can't listen to it for the first time ever again." It was a sad moment.
BUT. The awesome thing is, I can listen to it again. And again. And again. And that's what I'm doing.
(Gosh, I feel like such trash for their music. Probably because I am.)
I've also been listening to their older music, especially Vessel.
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*CHURCH NOTES SNIPPET*
I cannot be anything but a complete Christian. I am not more complete on my best days and not less complete on my bleh days. Why? Because Jesus paid in full for my sin. It is FINISHED.
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In time, I will leave the city
For now, I will stay alive
For now, I will stay alive
- "Leave The City" by Twenty One Pilots
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Like I said, I haven't been writing a whole lot lately. A little bit, yes, but not nearly enough. It's been too easy to turn to more relaxing pastimes like sipping an Indian spice decaf chai while reading Les Mis. The thing is, once I do make myself sit down and write, it's never long before I get into it and don't want to stop.
I love writing. I know full well I do. But lately waiting for inspiration has not been an option and unfortunately, I've been treating it like one. (Which is why my Dusted Red Pinterest board is having a sudden growth spurt, lol.)
Other, less disappointing writing news is that I wrote and polished a flash fiction story within a week and sent it to Havok! It was nice to work on something different from my novel-in-progress for once. It's my first flash fic, but you can bet I'll be writing more in the future. :D
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I sensed the siblings' presence beside me acutely, but didn't want to see their expressions. They knew what this meant as clearly as I did.
We were never getting out of here, and it was all my fault.
- Dusted Red by moi
(in which I make my characters do stupid things and then torture them for it :P)
(in which I make my characters do stupid things and then torture them for it :P)
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I'm not doing NaNoWriMo because it would be too much pressure amidst all that's already going on in my life. Hopefully sometime I can do it, but this year I'll have to settle for trying my hardest to pull out of my writing slump.
My battle plan is to take a YouTube break all through November. And it actually hurts me to say that because I'm pretty much addicted to watching the BookTube channels and writing channels I've fallen in love with. Jessethereader, InsaneReader, missemmareadsalot, PeruseProject, Abbie Emmons - I've grown to love these channels SO MUCH. They're entertaining, inspiring, and... uh, devouring way too much of my time.
I think that to get out of my writing slump, I need to step away from YouTube and use the time I've been spending watching 30-minute reading vlogs and such (however epic they are *whimpers*) to work on macro-editing my novel and outlining its sequel. And writing more flash fiction.
I may let myself watch Abbiee videos because those are pure inspiration to CREATE, CREATE, CREATE. But that will be it. :)
So, that's sort of my NaNoWriMo alternative. Lame compared to the real thing, I know, but I'm excited anyway!
*CHURCH NOTES SNIPPET*
Condemning myself is not of the Lord. It is of the devil. Beating myself up about stuff is focusing on works instead of on the grace of God, which is sufficient for me.
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Well, friends, I'm sorry if this post seems all over the place. You'll have to let me know down below if you like this set-up (or lack thereof, haha) or not. Either way, we stan an honest commenter. XD And tell me, is your fall as aesthetic as the pictures above yet? How do you feel about the cooler weather? I, for one, LOVE it. *burrows deeper into huge sweater*
I'll be back with a new post soon, m'kay?
I'll be back with a new post soon, m'kay?
The Lord's Truly,
