October 2017 Goals
And a recap of September 2017 goals
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I don't know about you but October is my favorite month. Birthday, fall foliage, crisp cool climate, beautiful hikes, exciting races, bouquets of freshly sharpened pencils...I could keep going, but time is flying and the month is short!
And so, without further ado, it's time for GOALS!
Recap of September Goals:
Writing
Post twice a week. Unfortunately I didn't get close to this. I had four weeks in September and I posted 6 times, and I actually took a whole week off in the middle of September because I just needed a break.
Finish a draft of fiction. I did make great progress with this. I've got a starting draft written, though I know there's going to be more added and taken away from it as I work on it. (This is basically what I took that week off from blogging for.)
Photography
Work on fall sessions. Yeah! I had a ton of fun with some fall sessions that I'm editing and I've got a few more fall sessions coming up in October! Keep an eye on Liz Goodman Photography for those updates.
Running/Fitness
Run three times a week. I only did this twice, but it was a great feeling when I did.
Climb at least once a week. Averaged out, I succeeded in this because I climbed five times this month. In reality I climbed three days in a row earlier in the month and then I climbed twice this past week. But life is the average of our actions, right? Ergo, win.
Go hiking as much as I can. Actually I only went hiking twice this month. So I guess that counts as "as much as I can"? This was a bad metric, so next time it needs to be a more concrete goal.
Do yoga at least once. I'd planned for this, but then my friend wasn't feeling well and I wasn't feeling well so we bailed. But I'm going to join Kristen on one of her yoga practices and hopefully add that to my regular routine again.
Travel
Plan some October trips. Plan? Me? You've got to be kidding. Nope.
Start planning for some holiday trips. If by "plan" you mean "daydream and look at pictures of Iceland when I should be working" then yes. Yes, I did this.
Personal
Read a book. Like, an actual book and not an audiobook. Argh, I'm frustratingly close on this one, but no cigar. I'm currently reading Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom!* and this book is no joke. Published in 1936 it is a dense, difficult novel that requires one to read and re-read to understand all the complexities of the story. It helped Faulkner earn the Nobel Prize in Literature, and is frequently considered one of the best Southern novels. For me it's been more about experiencing this book rather than reading it. Faulkner's writing is so long-winded and meandering and dense that it takes considerable attention to read. You have to avoid rushing through the text or run the risk of many chapters appearing to be gibberish. The novel intentionally confuses the reader at the start and then the situation is slowly unwrapped, so that the reader experiences the elucidation and "ah-ha" moments of the story. It's a novel that you really take in the details. It's a novel that you re-read sentences, stringing together spliced thoughts until the half-understood concept comes together and finally you are relying less on your gut and intuition to guide you through the indecipherable text, but rather you are seeing how phrases, moments, themes, and things float past each other, bump up next to one another, and, by bumping together, alter each other.
So yeah, I'm almost done.
Give Ryder a bath. Done! Smelly dog is now less-smelly, hooray!
Finish unpacking boxes. Well, seeing as McCrae is now shoving those boxes into a closet right now, I guess that's a no?
So what's the plan for October?
October Goals:
Writing
Post at least twice a week: Oh come on, Liz, do it! It's not like I'm doing an October "write every day" challenge like I did last year - the least I can do is post twice a week!
Read my draft of fiction at my writers' group. I might have signed up to read at the end of October just to give myself a deadline to write something.
Photography
Finish one photography class. I've been super spastic about signing up for photography classes* and workshops, watching the most interesting lessons, and then never finishing the entire photography course. On the one hand it's good because I'm getting the information that I need and I'm learning a lot. On the other hand I might be missing out on other info, so I ought to finish up some of the courses.
Plan a photography project for 2018. I really liked working on the Wake County Parks project because it really made me focus on a subject and explore it. I noticed my photography improved so much with that work, and I'd love to have a photography project to focus on in 2018. Know any parks that need a photographer?? ;)
Running/Fitness
Run three times a week. It's just a good goal to have.
Race the Tuna Run 200 again! Oh yeah, that's this month! Yayayayayay!
Climb at least twice a week. Even if it's just me going by myself and bouldering it's important for me to go consistently.
Go hiking at least twice. Fall foliage, baby!
Do yoga at least once. Kristen, let's do this!
Travel
Spend some time at the beach. Some of us are talking about spending an extra day or two at Atlantic Beach at the end of the Tuna Run 200.
See fall foliage. It's gonna happen this year, I promise!
Plan a trip to Iceland. Because why the heck not?!
Personal
Finish reading "Absalom, Absalom!" Because I'm so close! And it's a good book.
Plus read one other book. I might as well.
Clean up the house and have friends over. Because there's nothing quite like good friends gathered around a firepit with smores in the fall.
Go to my high school reunion. Ten years. Nerd boarding school. Yes, I am curious what all the other Type-A over-achievers are doing nowadays.
Pick out paint colors. I keep saying I'm going to paint the house. I guess I need to pick paint colors first. Orrrrr I could just convince McCrae to let me pretend I'm Michelangelo and paint murals on all the walls, although, unlike Michelangelo, I don't think that will positively affect the resale value.