Time for a kick in the KEISTER

I seem to go through spurts in life.. I'm sure we all do.  We ride along for a while until we get dissatisfied with what we're doing.. with how we perceive ourselves to be.. with what we feel our life direction is.

I've been in a post-moving funk for about a month now.. interestingly enough that coincides with when we finished our move, funny how that all matches up.

Anyway.. so I've been in a funk for a bit, wanting to write.. getting the itch, the stirrings.. but lacking the direction and simply the ooomph.  So.. a couple weeks ago I'm reading my facebook and I see a post from an author I follow who talks about how around 10 years ago he was in the final stages of a huge life altering event.. moving from one part of the Country to another and changing careers from what he'd done for the past 10 years to pursue his dream of writing.

It got me to thinking about my own journey.. 10 years ago I was trying to get back into the swing of law school after taking a year off while my 1 year old daughter spent nearly 9 months in the PICU awaiting open heart surgery, amongst other procedures.  My wife and daughter were in Boise, and I was 300 miles away at school. To say it was an adjustment was a huge understatement.

The changes that I've gone through since then are, in my humble estimation, equally fundamental. I've gone from Law Student, to Attorney, to Teacher, to, now, House Husband.. We've moved from Boise to Utah to now Virginia, my wife has gone from No degree to Bachelors to Masters to now pursuing her PhD.  And.. we've gone from 1 beautiful little girl, to 5 rugrats.

Yet, through it all.. the desire to write, to create, has remained constant yet unfulfilled.

Which brings me back to the point of my ramblings..

Back in May I wrote about the Definition of Insanity being doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.. pretty famous little quote, I'm sure we've all heard it.

Well, I find myself in a similar situation now. Once things get hard, or uncomfortable.. we all have a tendency to 'run home to mama'.. my own being surfing the net or playing computer/video games or reading or...

... in short, doing anything BUT writing or working out or any of the things I've promised myself I was going to do.

So, I suppose what I'm saying is that.. I'm Back.  It's time to take up the mantle of 'Kevin's Esoteric Initiative of Self-Inflicted Torture to Effectuate Results'.. or KEISTER (for short).  Essentially.. it's time for a kick in the KEISTER.

The page above will diagram more clearly my intentions.. but my goal is go go back to what initially produced results back in May.. Rising each morning at 5:00 am (curse you Morgan for introducing that aspect), I will get on the treadmill for 30 minutes, and then have 2.5 uninterrupted hours of writing that I will utilize fully and efficiently.

Goals are go have a fully realized manuscript before the end of the year, and then to have it polished enough to present at the LDStorymakers Writers Conference in May.. AND to lose 1% of my body weight per week until I reach my healthy weight goal.

So.. if I am to achieve something new and dramatic, then the change must be new and dramatic.
I'm motivated and, (believe it or not), excited to see what I can achieve by sticking to this goal.

I'll post updates as I go.





Comments

  1. Sounds like you were meant to write! Funny how no matter how much we get side-tracked, we always come back to the things we are supposed to do. I'd wish you luck but with that level of motivation I don't think you'll need it. ;-)

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  2. KEVIN!!!!!!!

    You know you're meant to do this. I can feel the energy waaaay over here in Utah. :) I can feel your passion, and dedication. It's there, and so are the skills. So all it comes down to now is just doing it. And it's HARD. Holy crap, it's HARD. But you'll do it. And LOL to the cursing! Totally laughing...

    You've got to jump on these moments when you're overwhelmed with the desire to write. But you also need to give yourself slack. The things you've lived through and survived these past few years is more than most people ever experience. So it's fine to embrace where you're at, and know that you've got big things ahead of you. And everything you've lived through will only fuel the fire!

    I'm excited for your adventures. You've got what it takes, Kevin, and we all know that you'll get there. :D Hope this all wasn't cheesy, I'm being totally sincere!

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  3. Our mind is funny. It makes us believe and do certain things about ourselves based on stress levels and chaos in our lives. I have believed for years that being a writer is just a flimsy dream. I know now that it is not. It is my life and in the past I have always reverted to it. Now I write every day, because "I am a wriiiiiiiterrrrrr" is etched in my brain. I also have a habit of writing it down on notepads and post-it's for when my brain is deaf to my thoughts.

    Good luck on your novel!! I cheer you on. With pompoms!

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  4. Good for you, Kevin. And thanks. Your kick was big enough to get my keister's attention, too. LOL Great post! :)

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  5. great goals! good lck with them! we're rooting or your success!

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