What’s True for Me This Week

The weekly column here that's a little chatty and personal so you can get to know me and my creative weird sometimes silly sometimes mundane little brain ...

17 years of living here and I still marvel at the views

I utilize the Chat tool here on Substack as a spot to daily-ish share what is true for me that day. Sometimes it’s a deep thought, sometimes it’s a mundane one, sometimes it’s just a recap of what happened during the day. And I invite others to share what’s true for them that day. I truly want to know so please join me there anytime!

I’ve been sharing these weekly here on Sundays as a diary-style sort of roundup. But it’s been two weeks since the last share and I’m actually wondering if rounding them every two weeks or even every month makes more sense. Any thoughts?

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Always so many interesting things in people’s yards

Here’s what has been true for me over the past two weeks:

November 6, 2023

What's true for me today is that I woke up early and my intention was to finish up some overdue homework but what I realized is that I would feel a whole lot better if I finally cleaned my house because it's just been feeling gross and unhappy and looming over me. And I'm an adult so if I don't want to turn a school paper in on time then I don't have to :) I was always an early deadline A student but this is my second Masters degree and I'm in my forties and I've finally realized that I don't have to do it that way to get a ton out of the program.

So, I cleaned my house, and it felt so good. And I played with my dogs. They aren't getting enough time with me right now and today is my long school day of the week. And I'm getting a very much needed massage after school so it's a very long alone day for them. But then I'm home with them for a lot of days in a row. Mostly because the puppy is getting her CCL surgery on Thursday which is a bummer and I wish it didn't need to be done. But it's good that it's getting done. And as much as I don't love that, I'm looking forward to the long weekend of downtime together with both dogs and my partner and I.

November 10, 2023

What's true for me today is that there are updates and things I want to get caught up on here on Substack but the past couple of days have been busy offline. I am working on a grant project with a friend that I'm very excited about but the deadline is coming up fast. And my pup had her CCL surgery yesterday which is not just a big surgery but also a long recovery. I was up all night with her so I definitely need naps today. One step at a time.

November 11, 2023

What's true for me today is that I'm simultaneously grateful for all of the help and support that I have around the difficulty of caring for my puppy 24/7 for several weeks AND overwhelmed because a bulk of it all still falls on me and it's only been two days and it's really challenging and I'm really tired. But I'm focusing on the grateful part and reminding myself that the first days are the hardest in most ways. Not in all ways. As she gets better, she's going to want to move more, but she isn't supposed to move much at all for four weeks, so it will be hard containing and entertaining her. But I think the first few days are the worst in terms of all of us adjusting to this. We have been staying in an airbnb on the first floor and tonight we head back to our place and have to carry her up two flights of steep stairs, which I'm nervous about even though we have friends helping us. Just lots of thoughts and worries in my head and I'm trying to remember to be present here in the moment where everything is actually okay but my mind has a hard time doing that consistently.

November 12, 2023

What's true for me today is that we relocated last night from our airbnb back to home. Several friends came and helped carry my huge injured pup up the stairs and it went pretty smoothly, all things considered. She's not supposed to jump at all but as I was settling her into her bed on the floor by mine, she leaped up and tried getting in my bed, where she usually sleeps. So I just helped her up there and she's been sound asleep ever since. The other pup is also sound asleep in the bed with us. Everyone is glad to be home.

What's also true for me today is that I allowed myself to get behind on some school and work stuff so that I could spend time answering emails about Substack stuff and other creative things that I've been wanting to get to for quite some time. I decided that prioritizing that mattered because it's stuff that makes me feel good and makes me feel connected to others and makes me feel purposeful. So some new things should be coming soon and I'm happy about that.

From Jane Goodall’s children’s book which is so inspiring

November 13, 2023

What's true for me today is that I am going to stay here on Substack and enjoy the reading and connecting and sip my coffee for only another thirty minutes and then I'm going to review my list of "things to do," many of which are now past deadline which isn't typical for me, and I'm going to prioritize that list and focus on one thing at a time. I'm going to take breaks to breathe and stretch. My pup will remind me to do that :)

What's also true is that I am so excited to have finally launched my new "visual interview" series here with answers from Sue Clancy who was so generous to work with me yet again and who is always so inspiring in her work. Everyone is invited to follow the link in that article to the Google Form if you'd like to do a visual interview with me.

November 14, 2023

What's true for me today is that I feel really good about the work I did yesterday on the grant I'm working on for an art project with a new friend and I'me excited because this is precisely the type of thing that made me want to go back to grad school in the first place, to make those creative connections and new bonds. I'm grateful for that. I am beginning today with a pretty long To Do list but also a lot of time to just sit at the computer and work on things, one at a time. Healing pup is sleeping away. Other pup spent the night with his dog walkers. And I am setting the intention to remember to take breaks, breathe, stretch. What gets done is enough.

Took this pup on a tiny hike while the other one was in surgery

November 17, 2023

What's true for me today is that I am sleepy. I think I'll leave it at that for right now because that is what is truest.

November 19, 2023

What is true for me today is that time is feeling odd, the way that it sometimes does. How has it been more than a week since pup had her surgery? How am I almost done with the first semester of only four of them for grad school? How are there only a handful of weeks before the end of 2023? How is it five weeks or so until it's been a year since my dad has passed?

What is true for you today?