Inspired By In August

Watching: 

We finished The Bear on Hulu. Such a great show. So sad it’s over. I anxiously wait for its return, but there is no set date. The writer’s strike will certainly hold it up. Fingers crossed it will return, though. 

We’re still watching and loving Suits.

 The Morning Show on AppleTV is coming back on September 13^th, and Survivor starts back up on September 27^th. 

When the days grow short and the nights lengthen, it’s comforting to have a few shows to look forward to.

Oh, and I read that Shrinking will be back on January 27^th. That feels like a long way away, but knowing there is a definite date made me happy.

Reading:

According to Goodreads, I am eight books behind in my goal to read fifty books by the end of the year. That’s mainly because David Copperfield is a thousand pages long.

Yes, I’m still reading David Copperfield even though Goodreads has already shelved it as “Read.” 

The Yoga Lounge Book Group picked Killers of the Flower Moon for this month, and I started it, but so far, ugh. I don’t think I am a fan of true crime. But it’s early. I’m only in Chapter Two. 

Substack:

I must have a Substack sub-heading under Reading because I spend considerable time on that site reading thoughtful pieces by really good writers.  

And today, I learned that Elizabeth Gilbert is about to start her own Substack, and I could not be happier! She hasn’t posted anything yet except her description of what she intends to do, and it was enough for me to pony up for a paid subscription. 

Listening to:

I’m not a music person, but the other day, while writing my 1K a Day in Scrivener and feeling dry in my brain, I opened Spotify and searched for some inspiring background music and found this album:

I let it play softly in the background, making me feel more meditative and relaxed. I listen to it now almost every day. It’s not the music so much as having something continuous in the background. I ride it as I type, and I think it helps. 

It reminded me a little of Ommwriter and how I loved writing in that distraction-free space. I just now opened it and tried it out again, and it’s lovely, but I don’t like to wear headphones when I write, and it is best with headphones 

 You can change your background and even what your keystrokes sound like. It’s very quiet in there and meditative and beautiful. I highly recommend it if you’re a writer who likes quiet, beautiful headspaces to write in and find it difficult to manufacture them for yourself.

Eating and Drinking:

Nothing inspiring in this department. I wish I could say that all the produce in the farm stands inspires me to cook again, but it doesn’t.

On the drinking end, I am back to non-alcoholic wine, which tastes like nothing but makes me feel better in the morning. 

 Soup. I want soup, but it doesn’t seem like the time. 

The Yoga Business:

I paused Happy Hour Yoga on Fridays for the summer, and next week, I’ll start that back up again.

Just today, I added a new late-morning class to the schedule: Easy Yoga at 11 a.m. on Wednesdays. 

I also added a way to pay for Livestreams separately from the Membership. The Membership is still the cheapest way, but many people don’t like the $20 recurring payment.

We’ll see how that goes. 

I think 11 a.m. is actually the perfect time to do yoga. 

Personally, I like the early morning hours for serious work and getting shit done.

By the evening, I definitely need yoga, but sometimes I find it hard to switch gears. 

Late morning is the sweet spot. 

 I also ran into someone at the Farmer’s Market the other day who asked me if I ever had class in the daytime because now that her kids were back in school…

So I thought, what the hell? Let’s see what happens. I only committed to September. I’ll assess in October. 

Apps I’m (still) enjoying:

Trello. 

I bought the paid version so I could add as many boards as I wanted. I love making them and checking on them. 

I can add photos, and I have recently synced my Trello account with Gmail, so now I can send Gmail right to a board if I want to. 

Trello keeps my goals top of mind. Here are some of the  Boards I created:

Each month has its own board. I just made September 2023. 

I also have Gift Ideas, Portland Trip, Longer Projects for 2023, Packing Lists, and Plant Care.

My Chinese Fan Palm is not looking great, and I’m treating every ten days with a fungicide. I now take a picture of it weekly and post it to Trello to see if it’s improving. 

Marco Polo

Emily and I use this one for video messaging. I love it, especially when our schedules don’t sync (East vs. West Coast time zones! Err.)

Nothing makes me happier than to wake up in the morning and see that a Polo awaits me from her! 

I think I want to use it for more things, like maybe starting a friend group or a yoga group. 

Do you use Marco Polo? If so, please let me know how you use it if you like it, and if you would like me to add you to my contact list.

Thanks for reading this blog. I’m feeling really proud of myself for not missing a week since January. Knowing you read and enjoy these posts makes me so happy!

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Thanks! 

Till next Thursday!