Mid Summer Check

I can scarcely believe that it's already July.  Here we are at the middle of the year.  It's a good time to stop and take stock.

I'm pleased with the progress that we're making on various repair projects, even though it often seems harder than it needs to be.  Let me remember what we have accomplished since the hurricane:  the cottage foundation stabilized, the AC installed in the cottage, a mold inspection done by a non-insurance-adjuster.  We've made progress on the fence and the floors in the big house. There's much left to be done, but we're less often in a swamped-by-despair state.

My reading year is a bit underwhelming.  I'm reading books, of course, but nothing makes me want to stay up all night reading.  A case in point:  Meg Wolitzer's latest book, The Female Persuasion.  It's good, I'm enjoying it, but I'm also putting it down for long stretches of time.

In terms of creativity, here, too, as always, it could be better, although I am getting work done.  I was looking at my blog posts from last July, and I came across one that had me playing with the idea of a new title for my memoir/book of essays:  Micromanaging the Miracles.  I promptly went ahead and did nothing.  In stolen moments this week, let me look at that manuscript and see how much revision I'd need if I changed the title.

Let me resolve to have a manuscript ready to send to Eerdman's by Sept. 15.  Let me also make some decisions about book length poetry manuscripts.

I am pleased that I continue to do sketching/journaling once a week, usually.  I wouldn't mind doing that more--I feel the same way about many of my creative pursuits.

I still struggle with connection.  I feel like I have a supportive web of family, friends and communities.  But here, too, I always have that despairing feeling of never having enough time.  It's a zero sum game:  time spent with one group means there's less time for others.  I try to reframe this issue:  I'm lucky to have so many friends and family members with whom I'd like to spend more time.  Most people don't have this conundrum:  the connection issue brings them a different sort of pain.

The year just zooms on, and this year, as with most, I'm mostly pleased with my trajectory and hopeful that with a bit of tinkering, I'll get on an even more satisfying course.