Neurodivergence, media diet, Ghibli concert... SO MANY THOUGHTS on Write for Life week 4/5

Welcome to weeks 4 and 5 of this video series where I follow the Write for Life program by Julia Cameron (aka The Artist's Way for writers). I had SO MANY THOUGHTS to share!
Watch the previous episodes below:
Week 1 - • The book smashing my w...
Week 2 - • Write for Life - Week ...
Week 3 - • Write for Life series ...
Artist Date / Day vlog - • Artist Date/Day Vlog -...
I hope my experience is somehow useful to you. If you're also a writer, how was your practice this week?
00:00 - Intro
01:48 - Morning Pages
08:14 - Artist Dates
14:11 - Weekly Walks
15:18 - Daily Quota
21:44 - Other Random Thoughts

[@ellenmadebookclub]

So many great thoughts, I remember having a lot of the same feelings and thoughts doing the Artist's way. And I still struggle a lot with finding the balance and knowing when I need to push through and when I need to rest. Especially as I have not taken time for fun for so long, it's very difficult to know what a good normal is, like where is the baseline for things.
I also love letting myself do bad work and having that mindset that it's part of the journey, no matter when or how I do it, that bad stuff is the step to the next thing. And that sometimes it's not as important to make it so great, it's more important to get it done or to just be doing it, and having that practise and routine. And I think the same goes for morning pages, I don't always do them anymore, which I would like to back to, but I don't force three pages if I don't have them. It's more about giving myself that time to listen to myself. If it doesn't come out on paper, that's fine too. The time and reflection and the listening to yourself is what I think is the most impactful. It made me feel like my thoughts were important, whether I wrote them down or not. And yours are too, even if they go really really fast :D
I really enjoyed listening to your reflections. I think spreading the last week out is a great idea.

[@Curious-Cat]

Thanks for your comment and sharing your own thoughts :)
I also have difficulties with making time for fun. I like Gretchen Rubin's distinction about different kinds of fun: relaxing fun (the easiest one, requires no effort, like watching TV), accommodating fun (mainly about spending time with other people) and challenging fun (which requires some planning and/or effort, like learning a new skill - it's the most difficult one, but also the most rewarding). I feel like I have too much relaxing fun and definitely not enough of the challenging one ^^' The distinction helps to identify the problem, but I need to put more effort into solving it XD

[@ellenmadebookclub]

@@Curious-Cat Omg honestly, when I'm writing comments sometimes, I think it's a couple of sentences and then I see it again later and it's a whole essay. Especially when I relate, which I did to what you were talking about!
I really like that distinction, I've never heard that before, but makes sense. I also easily get stuck in relaxing fun (tv), but rarely properly enjoy it, just end up feeling guilty. So then I go all in on the challenging fun, like planning for a million videos and then getting overwhelmed and got no rest XD Isn't there a middle ground where you're doing something so it's active but not learning? Like the miniatures you did or other crafty things?
I feel like life should feel easier than this!
💜

[@Curious-Cat]

@@ellenmadebookclub Ahah SAME with the comments XD Also, I see you're up late too ^^'
For me, the crafty things would fall more on the challenging fun side, because you need to get the materials, set things up, and even the actual doing might require some learning. It'd be a different kind of challenging for me than "practicing a language" where I basically could just have to pick up a book from my shelf - it's challenging intellectually, but not as much in terms of planning or set-up. But with my burnout, even reading a physical book (vs an audiobook) feels like challenging fun nowadays (which makes me a bit sad). I think it's probably not entirely separate categories, but definitely more like a spectrum. My favorite relaxing fun is doing a jigsaw puzzle while listening to an audiobook, but it requires a bit more effort than just watching TH-cam. Maybe that's your middle ground? :)

[@ellenmadebookclub]

@@Curious-Cat Thank you, that makes me feel a lot better! 💜I get so self-conscious about it it's not even funny! I mean it is funny, and then it's anxiety XD Oh, I am never up late, I go to sleep at a decent hour every night! 👀
I see what you mean with the setup, that is a whole thing. And I get it, how things are suddenly challenging. I'm in the process of figuring out how I'm doing too (not great) and I have trouble reading simple instructions and things like that, or planning things which is usually what I'm good at.
I think a puzzle and an audiobook at the same time would make my head spin 😅 But it's probably a good idea to find those things that keep you/me/us entertained enough without taking to much energy. I like walking and listening to an audiobook, that's simple enough :)

[@Curious-Cat]

Oooh, glad if this helps! Honestly, I think most TH-camrs are just glad to get comments, so there is no reason for you to get self-conscious about it - the vast majority of people would just be grateful for your comments, and the ones that aren't just don't deserve them.
Ahah right, me neither - I haven't seen you, you haven't seen me XD
I'm sorry to hear things aren't going great for you at the moment. I don't know what the situation is, but if that's helpful, I'd happy to discuss my experience with burnout with you or just listen to what's going on with you. Take care!