Down with January and Onward to February

 

Mercury retrograde really managed to sneak up on me this month, as I woke up this morning to a surprise notification from my favorite astrology app that it had started. (Yes, if you are not already aware, I'm into astrology, although I do like to think I'm pretty sensible about it.) I'm usually better about keeping on top of significant aspects, but I've been so scattered this month. Mercury retro would definitely explain why I've been having more trouble communicating lately, though. 

I've been feeling unusually talkative lately, so I've actually been tweeting and posting on Facebook with some regularity. However, I've also been managing to step in it a lot. Being misunderstood online isn't usually a massive problem for me, but I've had it happen a handful of times over the past week or so. One of the times even involved a fellow Medium author I look up to a lot. I felt so bad about that particular instance, I even sent him a rare Facebook message to apologize, but yeah. I haven't exactly been my smoothest this week. 

I am starting to feel a bit more like myself in general, though, and I sense my post-holiday blahs are finally lifting a little bit. After an abysmal start to the month, I finally got back up to speed with my self-imposed Medium schedule. I even miraculously managed to get my monthly newsletter for Elevated Living out on time as of this morning. This week will mark the start of a new month and a fresh set of goals, which I find I'm looking forward to. 

Among other things, I've been focusing on publishing more often to publications other than my own. That's a stretch for me, as I love the expressive freedom that comes with self-publishing or sticking to my own publication, but I also love the reach more established pubs let me take advantage of. It's time to get back to work as far as building my audience goes, as I'm determined to keep building on last year's successes.

On Life's Recent Ups and Downs

The irritating thing about dealing with chronic brain chemistry issues like depression and anxiety is I get to play this super-fun guessing game with myself every time I'm feeling under the weather emotionally. What am I feeling, exactly, and where is it coming from? Is it just a chemical or hormonal thing, or is it something that has a cause? If it does have a cause, is it something I can fix, or do I just need to wait for it to pass? Sometimes I never do quite figure things out until after the episode is over.

That seems to have been the case with me lately. I've not been feeling like myself at all these past couple of months. I've been feeling low-key anxious in general, and it's been tough to concentrate on my writing, as my mind's felt very far away. I suspected it might be due to the election and all the trouble Donald Trump had been causing ever since, especially regarding the riot on Capitol Hill. Now that Inauguration Day has come and gone, I know that's precisely what it was.

Now that we have a new president in the White House and Trump is (for now) gone, I feel 100 percent better. I know Joe Biden isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but he's nothing short of a top-tier blessing after four years of Donald Trump. He seems like a genuinely good guy who cares about his country and wants to get to work cleaning up the royal mess Trump's made of it. He wants to get all this COVID nonsense under control so that people can get back to living semi-normal lives without worrying about dying some horrible death, as well. 

Life feels normal again, and I've been able to exhale. I'm slowly but surely finding the energy to resume my regular posting schedule over on Medium and elsewhere as a result. Once I've got that back under control, there are some additional balls I'd like to throw into the air for the year to come. Valentine's Day and Mardi Gras are coming up. Spring will be right around the corner next. I'm already starting to get into that spirit, and it feels fantastic.

Some Scattered Thoughts on What's to Come

I completely spaced that it was going to be Martin Luther King Day today. Every year, I seem to do that mostly because it just falls so darned close to all the major winter holidays. Somehow, my brain never got the memo that national holidays and the associated three-day weekends aren't just spring and summer things.  

That's the great thing about my writing schedule these days, though. Thanks to the passive income I've been bringing in via platforms like Medium and News Break lately, I haven't had to pack my schedule to the brim with copywriting and ghostwriting assignments the way I used to. I've continued to write for my long-time regulars, but that's about it. 

The more income my blogging generates, the more wiggle room I have, as far as my work schedule goes in general. I usually try to get my freelance obligations out of the way early in the week when I'm freshest, but I'm a little behind where I want to be with my Medium postings for this month. In honor of Martin Luther King Day, I'll compromise by leaving the freelancing until tomorrow and spending the entire day on my other content instead. I've gotten much better at actually seeing it as work and taking it appropriately seriously.

........

I have so many emotions going on regarding Biden's inauguration the day after tomorrow. On the one hand, I'm so excited about getting a normal president back in the White House again. I get that all politicians have their agendas, but Trump just took things to this whole other level that I never want to see again in my lifetime. I have my issues with Biden, but I at least feel confident that he cares about this country and about doing a good job as our president. He's not a flaming racist, a brazen liar, or a troublemaker. He doesn't grab women by the pussy or secretly yearn to turn American into a dictatorship. A low bar, perhaps, but it's more than good enough for me at this point.