It’s fall, my absolute favorite time of the year. You may assume it’s my favorite season because of the beautiful colors or the cooling temps or the delicious crispness of the air (cross my heart, I will never take clean air for granted again after living in Mumbai). And while all those aspects factor into to why I love it, it’s ultimately the way fall makes me FEEL that makes it so special–like the world’s just teeming with possibility and I could do anything that I dared to dream up! Anyone with me on this one??
But not just that. It’s all the glorious newness too — the new learning, the classes, activities, exploration. Perhaps because I’ve been a life-long school lover, the first day of school, even more so than January 1st, has always been the day that signified new starts for me. This still holds true for me today.
And while Nia started school on August 29th and Nick on September 6th, my school feels like it’s beginning today for two reasons, because
1.) My two people are finally entrenched enough in their own routines that I can focus on mine, and
2.) I have three new endeavors kicking off this week, all of which feel very exciting to me.
Writing Plans
Daily writing is back, although I’m sad to say I fell off the wagon with my writing over the summer. It was just too hard to find quiet time for writing between seeing all the people and doing all the things. I beat myself up about it for awhile but then decided that my expectations–as usual–were likely unrealistic and that I should just enjoy my month with family and friends and resume my writing in the fall and that it would all be okay. So that’s what I did.
The new session of my writing program begins today and I’m ready and raring to go. I am most excited to reconnect deeply with my global network of writing pals, find new ways to hone my craft, and push myself in ways that make me uncomfortable. Ultimately, I’d like to have a published work by the end of the program (May 2023). Ambitious, perhaps, but I think it’s doable.
For the time being I’ll be setting aside my memoir, as it’s now clear to me that it will take years, not months, to get a high quality end product. Therefore, the plan for this session is to go back through my 1000 Novakistan posts (2009 to present) and select the best of the best. Once selected, I’ll flesh the stories out more, organize them around the central themes that emerge, and hopefully end up with a compendium of short stories from my 10+ years overseas. The key difference this time is that I’m starting with the source material already written, so I’ll spend the bulk of my nine months rewriting, organizing, editing, learning the writing software, and muddling through the publishing process. The learning curve will be steep but I think with this plan I have a good chance of successful publication by May.
Healthier Living Plans
The older my body gets, the more it demands that I pay attention to it. Go figure! So one of my goals while living in the U.S. of A. is to figure out what the next iteration of healthier living looks like for myself. In the past I’ve eliminated sugar, minimized processed foods, given up soda and practiced intermittent fasting.
I’m not sure what’s next for me in the health arena, so I’m starting work with a nutritionist this week to get a better sense of how I can nourish this middle-aged body. I’ve never worked with a nutritionist before and I’m both excited and curious to see what it will be like.
I am continuing to do my 10,000 steps each day. The urban lifestyle of our neighborhood has me running to Target or the Grocery store on foot most days. With that and a short walk, I’ve got my steps in no time.
I also wanted to bring strength training back in my life. But not just any strength training! It had to be my all-time favorite weightlifting class, Bodypump. :) I’ve been going since September 1st and goaling myself for three Pump classes a week. I’m already feeling changes in my physical body, and am noticing a decrease in negative feelings toward my body as well.
Self-Love Training
Speaking of that . . . I had noticed that my thoughts about myself had become more critical, especially during the pandemic, when I was all cooped up and out of a routine. This fall felt like the perfect time to take a class I’ve been eyeing for 10 years. The program, called Compassion Cultivation Training, originated at Stanford in 2010, and is now delivered virtually in eight two-hour live sessions. The program provides a framework and daily practices that help participants develop compassion for themselves and others through lectures, discussions, in-class exercises, and daily meditations. My class begins tomorrow (Tuesday) and I was fortunate to enroll in a cohort led by one of the founders of the program. I’m not quite sure on what I’ll come away from this program with yet, but I know I need to be more proactive about shutting down the critical voice in my head. I’m hoping this will give me some useful new tools to do just that.
