The world is a total mess, but it's OK, just keep going.
There's war and floods and famine and disease, but it's OK, just keep going.
The things that bump in the night are real, but it's OK, just keep going.
Dora Reads is the book blog of a Bookish Rebel, supporting the Diversity Movement, bringing you Queer views and mental health advocacy, slipping in a lot of non-bookish content, and spreading reading to the goddamn world! :) (All posts may contain Amazon links, which are affiliate, unless marked otherwise. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. USA ONLY - please do not make UK purchases with my links)
The world is a total mess, but it's OK, just keep going.
There's war and floods and famine and disease, but it's OK, just keep going.
The things that bump in the night are real, but it's OK, just keep going.
March wasn't great.
Not terrible - but then, the bar for terrible is pretty high (or low, depending on your perspective, I guess,) at this point - but not great.
Basically: my mental health sucks at the moment.
Do you think that books can send us messages?
I've been re-reading Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl -
so that I can finally move on to the second book in the series with some sort of familiarity with these characters because my brain is swiss cheese
- and I'd forgotten that there was a scene, in the library, where the books are 'talking' to the main character.
Can someone tell me how to assess your own writing?
Because I am not good at judging the quality of the stuff I write!
The participation trophies were never the problem.
Warning: this post discusses racism, ableism, and general prejudice, including reference to dehumanising language and slurs
I've been re-reading* The Princess Diaries for a while now.
For those not aware: this was a massively popular YA series by Meg Cabot from the early 00s where a New York teenager named Mia Thermopolis finds out she's actually the Princess of Genovia. (As you do.)
There also 2 films starring Anne Hathaway, which are fun, but don't really match the tone of the books.
*Well, re-reading the first couple and reading the rest for the first time 😅
February for yours truly wasn't too bad.
...It wasn't great either, tbh. But it's still one of the better months I've had lately, so I'll take it!
We're so used to seeing our media as the finished product that we rarely think about the component parts...
...the drafts. The demos. The practice runs and prototypes.
In my head, there's a difference between writing and *Writing.*
Like, I'm one of those people who thinks that all writing is writing, and I will take that to whatever bank and/or government authority you want me to.
I mean it - I will back you up 100%. All writing is writing.
All writing is writing.
Writing this blogpost is writing. Writing a tweet is writing. Writing a to-do list is writing.
It's all physically (or digitally in some cases, I guess,) writing.
And all of it works on your skills with words - don't ever let anyone tell you different, m'k? Gatekeepers can get all the way in the bin. *nods sagely*
And 2023 is OUT OF HERE!!!!
And thank whoever's listening for that.
Because, in case you weren't aware, my 2023 effing sucked.
Warning: This post references true crime and murder, and discusses mental health problems - especially Anxiety.
Disclaimer time: I am not any type of psychological, medical, or scientific expert. I'm a chick with a blog, nothing more, nothing less.
Wild-child that I am, of an evening I like to get myself a snack, and a glass of diet coke, and watch TV for a while.
Lately that's meant, more often than not, true crime.
Because there's nothing more calming than some grisly murder before bed.
Image by Marco Wolff from Pixabay |
Warning: some discussion of Anxiety and Depression, brief ref. to abusive friendship
I'm not a fan of failing.
And I know, I know, all the dude-bros and productivity coaches and all that will be like, 'failure is a stepping stone to success!' or some sh**, but it doesn't change the fact that I don't like failing.
I mean, no-one likes failing, if we're being perfectly honest.
I, especially, don't like being Wrong (yes, with the capital W,) - my Anxiety and Depression (more of those capital letters,) tend to latch onto being Wrong and run with it.
I've had to remind myself so many times, over the years, that it's best to take things one step at a time.
...That I only have two hands.
...That I actually get more done when I relax.
And yet... it's still so hard to do.
Yes, this post covers two months.
No, I have not done that before.
But I was already pretty busy/lacking in time in October, and then November...
Well, my criteria for a 'good month' in the hellstorm of 2023 is one where no-one I care about (human or animal,) dies, almost dies, or has a life-changing diagnosis.
Sometimes you just need to take things a step at a time.
Sometimes it's just about putting that one metaphorical foot in front of the other - not doing too much, not trying too hard.
Just. Keeping. Steady.
Because in a universe that tends towards entropy, stasis is progress.
Entropy, just to letcha know, is a scientific concept/rule...
Originally published in the Medium publication Promptly Written, for the quote-prompt '“Some people live just looking for someone to die for.”― Dominic Riccitello' set by Ravyne Hawke.