My hard deadline of December 31, 2025, means I have the choice to make progress or not, accept how things are or not, and being okay with letting go of perfection. The days on the calendar are pulling me along! If I keep up my current pace, I think I can get everything done by midnight on New Year’s Eve. And if I don’t get everything done? It will be a practice in making peace with what is.
I’m a bit proud of myself for sticking to the plan that I set up. I feel a bump of achievement when I finish a packet, bundle, or kit and put the information into an email for my web designer who’s building out the new tab. I’m finding it fun to put my creativity to a different use than writing fiction. I’m taking what I created and digitizing it, sometimes expanding it, and making it better for posterity (or anyone who might want to use it).
It’s not as difficult to let go of pieces as it was when I first dug through the tubs from the garage. I feel an ounce of lightness when I toss a file folder or stack of flashcards into the recycle bin.
In the past, I’ve been able to stick to deadlines imposed by others. I rarely gave myself hard deadlines. The soft ones were easy to pass by if things weren’t done. Perhaps a year of managing the publication of the anthology where deadline after deadline was ignored by others has given me a new appreciation for them. I’ll see how the idea of deadlines, soft or hard, work for me in the new year.
0 Comments