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Although not yet, really. That's just one of my favorite U2 songs (out of many!). :D
I turn 40 in a little over a week. Honestly I'd been sort of dreading it. I loved turning 30, especially since I'd gotten my quarter-life crisis out of the way at 25 (I was supposed to be published and a famous writer by then, come on!). But for some reason, 40 felt old.
Oddly, someone on Twitter changed my mind on that, simply by sharing a link to a study that proves people are happiest in their 40s.
Okay, then. Bring it on!
I'm ready for 40. I'm publishing another novel this week, and even though self-publishing (or, as I like to call it, indie publishing, because I do hire some people to do the things I can't do myself) is not yet considered quite as...hrm, legitimate... as traditional publishing, it is actually a great deal more lucrative. My novels are starting to pay for things. Not big things, nothing like a car payment or letting me quit my job. But they're paying for my web hosting, for my email newsletter service. This month, for a Wordpress plugin I use on my website (in very good timing).
I'm in pretty good health. I did a Whole 18 last month (it was supposed to be a Whole 30, but 10 days in I got a wretched ketosis rash and on Day 19 I Couldn't Handle It Anymore and started eating bread again. Thank God for carbs, the rash is almost gone again.) so I've done some diet analysis and have learned that dairy definitely triggers IBS, and high fructose corn syrup is another likely culprit. How lucky for me that high fructose corn syrup is in everything! <end sarcastic voice> As a result, I've started really reading labels and rejecting stuff that isn't naturally sweetened, either with sugar or stevia, or stuff that is completely unsweetened, like black and green tea.
I've been using the Bullet Journal system for my tasks and such since March of 2014, but this summer my BuJo system, in combination with a bump of my Zoloft from 50 to 100, has really made me much more productive, calm, and happy.
I decided to try Project 333 (wear only 33 pieces of clothing for 3 months) this fall, which isn't much of a challenge because I'd Konmaried my clothes over the winter anyway, so my closet and dresser are way emptier than they used to be. But almost every piece of clothing I have brings me joy. Some of them are just necessary because I live in Indiana, and you need to layer in the winter, but most of them please me mightily.
I am still deeply in debt, and that isn't getting much better, thanks to my job paying less than $10. But I still love my job almost every day I'm at it, and I feel fulfilled in a way that no job before every allowed me to feel. I definitely consider that worth the trade-off, even if it means I am juggling credit card balances hoping Sallie Mae keeps granting me forbearances on my crippling student loans.
I'm working my way through Your Best Year 2017 in the hopes that it will help me develop an an actual business and marketing plan for my writing. This, in turn, should alleviate the financial situation somewhat, and will hopefully allow me to quit my second job (which doesn't really suck but a. isn't my passion, and b. takes another day away from writing) and write more.
Anyway. There's a big life dump for you all, since I'm bad at regular posts. I miss LJ the way it used to be. I still read it, but the community isn't what it used to be.
I turn 40 in a little over a week. Honestly I'd been sort of dreading it. I loved turning 30, especially since I'd gotten my quarter-life crisis out of the way at 25 (I was supposed to be published and a famous writer by then, come on!). But for some reason, 40 felt old.
Oddly, someone on Twitter changed my mind on that, simply by sharing a link to a study that proves people are happiest in their 40s.
Okay, then. Bring it on!
I'm ready for 40. I'm publishing another novel this week, and even though self-publishing (or, as I like to call it, indie publishing, because I do hire some people to do the things I can't do myself) is not yet considered quite as...hrm, legitimate... as traditional publishing, it is actually a great deal more lucrative. My novels are starting to pay for things. Not big things, nothing like a car payment or letting me quit my job. But they're paying for my web hosting, for my email newsletter service. This month, for a Wordpress plugin I use on my website (in very good timing).
I'm in pretty good health. I did a Whole 18 last month (it was supposed to be a Whole 30, but 10 days in I got a wretched ketosis rash and on Day 19 I Couldn't Handle It Anymore and started eating bread again. Thank God for carbs, the rash is almost gone again.) so I've done some diet analysis and have learned that dairy definitely triggers IBS, and high fructose corn syrup is another likely culprit. How lucky for me that high fructose corn syrup is in everything! <end sarcastic voice> As a result, I've started really reading labels and rejecting stuff that isn't naturally sweetened, either with sugar or stevia, or stuff that is completely unsweetened, like black and green tea.
I've been using the Bullet Journal system for my tasks and such since March of 2014, but this summer my BuJo system, in combination with a bump of my Zoloft from 50 to 100, has really made me much more productive, calm, and happy.
I decided to try Project 333 (wear only 33 pieces of clothing for 3 months) this fall, which isn't much of a challenge because I'd Konmaried my clothes over the winter anyway, so my closet and dresser are way emptier than they used to be. But almost every piece of clothing I have brings me joy. Some of them are just necessary because I live in Indiana, and you need to layer in the winter, but most of them please me mightily.
I am still deeply in debt, and that isn't getting much better, thanks to my job paying less than $10. But I still love my job almost every day I'm at it, and I feel fulfilled in a way that no job before every allowed me to feel. I definitely consider that worth the trade-off, even if it means I am juggling credit card balances hoping Sallie Mae keeps granting me forbearances on my crippling student loans.
I'm working my way through Your Best Year 2017 in the hopes that it will help me develop an an actual business and marketing plan for my writing. This, in turn, should alleviate the financial situation somewhat, and will hopefully allow me to quit my second job (which doesn't really suck but a. isn't my passion, and b. takes another day away from writing) and write more.
Anyway. There's a big life dump for you all, since I'm bad at regular posts. I miss LJ the way it used to be. I still read it, but the community isn't what it used to be.
