Pam Bustin
creator, editor, story tender
Shake and Bake 23: The Right/Write Track Edition
Hullo Sweeties
How was your week? I hope your winter world is warming (if you are in a winter world). I hope you found some joy and beauty. I hope you are well.
For me… a lil of the up… a lil of the down… and all the time we go round and round.
The Quick Chicken (The Doings that help me with the Being):
- Walks: 6/7 SupahSTAR!
- Guitar: 0 or not…
- Yoga: 0 so so not…
- Meditation: 4/7 must keeeeeeep reaching…
- Work on NIP: 6/7
THIS WEEK’S EXPERIMENT:
To Walk… And boy did I walk…. I walked and walked and walked… for between 20 minutes to 3.5 hrs each day.
Except for the day spent mostly in town and hey, I walked while I was in town… but I didn’t count it because… it was in spurts, not one big long walk.
The Result: All goodness flows from the walking. Especially the early morning walking. “Ummana Yummana… good good good!”
And…OK then… If you are such a supahstar ~ how the hell did you end up getting EATEN by the couch yesterday?
What happened to the rest of the week?
THE GNARBLY BITS:
TOP STORY of the week – Sad to hear that Stompin’ Tom Connors shuffled off this mortal coil. He’s a good one and his legacy lives on. Go Canada! Go Canadian Artists who choose to stay in Canada and celebrate our stories! Long may we… survive!- With the melt comes THE MELT – let me not go on about it but… the shaky shack… she needs some work. Nuff said.
- Tooth Hurty… mucho yesterday and today…
- What / Why with this crazy sadness? Frack it already.
SHAKE IT OFF! SHAKE IT OFF!
THE TASTY BITS:
- Walking walking walking – even on the days when things looked glum. Even when it feels like… taking medicine. This is good medicine.
- Making plans for a get-away. Wheeee! I dream of… a haircut, and thrift stores, and a bathtub and movies and…. yeah, mostly the bathtub thing.
- Online Class fun.
- Beauty… such beauty in the world, on my walks and sent to me by friends. Some new Shiny Bits will soon be forthcoming.
- A late night delivery of home made cabbage rolls and peroghy…. not to be beat!
- The moving ahead… however slowly… on the NIP. Sometimes… for an hour or so, I still despair but… when I make myself hush and really look at it… I see it growing and I know we are nearing… we are nearing… we are working our way though to a solid draft.
- AND the fantastic-i-ness of capturing a lovely shot of the Last Quarter of Snow
Moon (Hunger Moon) on one of my morning walks. I’ve been working on paying more attention to the world around me with a special focus on the moon. I even managed to begin creating a new workbook of sorts to track the moons for a year (or so). This picture is, even now, making me outstandingly happy for some reason.
What worked? (THE THIng to bake in)
The thing that is leaping out at me today is…. That the only thing I know for sure is that the world is an up and down type of place.
I wrote this in the Scrib this morning…
I feel so … downtrodden this winter. Like I managed to survive last winter with so much more… grace and ease than this winter. I had the job at the hospital. I was tired out ~ physically ~ but was I so sad? I can’t remember. I do remember that when Spring came, the news also came that I was blessed with the ability to work for a year. To focus and WORK on the new book…. and I have been, right? Right. But… This is where it has led me? To downright DEPRESSION? What the what???
Here’s the thing.
I have spent much time looking… inside myself this year.
I have spent much time [editted out some private bizness – see I HAVE private bizness – heh heh]
Yes.And mostly… I have spent the year trying to find my way through this book.
You have found your way through.
You have worked hard.
You have.
You may not feel like it this week but it is true.
The draft is nearing completion.
This is good.Go work more.
That is all.I want it all to come clear. And I want 2 seemingly different things.
1. I want the a-b-c-d-e of a well built, story ~ told clean and clear.
AND
2. I want the wild magic and the deep truth.
I want a straight ahead, satisfying tale.
I want it to have humour and grace.
I don’t know why oh why oh why it takes me so freaking long to write these things.
I want them to come in months instead of YEARS.
But this has been your life, Pam. And this has been, and remains, your way of working.
And it is a good life, is it not?
Yes. It is.
It just means that …
…some days you walk to town and dance for joy on the ice because the work has gone so well.
….and some days you get eaten by the couch.
So it goes.
Next time I might…
Just actually BELIEVE that I’m on the right/write track.
NEXT WEEK’S Playful EXPERIMENT:
A thing I’ve started doing off and on… a short evening Scrib just to round out the day.
What the heck – can’t hurt.
Be well my beauties!
Walk much.
Breathe deep.
Dream of planting seeds.
go easy ~p
In homage to Havi’s Friday Chickens over on the The Fluent Self — This is the place I review my week – in an attempt to track some things – like progress on my novel and… living intentionally. I shake out my week and lay it out. Let the hard burn off and the good sink in. Call it an experiment in paying attention.
Comments are cherished here. Discussion is adored.
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Pam Bustin 
You walked to town! Whew. That makes you, like, Superwoman. Warm weather and healing sunshine. Coming. Our. Way. Soon. As always, I love coming here to have a read.
Hey Hols
Today… another big dump of snow on the Bay.
It’s unreal how deep it is.
Folks say it is “like the old days” up here this year.
It sure is beautiful.
But then… so is having a few beers on the beach in the hot hot sun.
I wait … mostly patient… for such a day.
go easy ~p