Meta tags:
description=Ito doing all the things;

Headings (most frequently used words):

the, on, recent, posts, readingwritingliving, after, longest, hiatus, ever, hello, is, this, thing, seeking, compassion, resist, but, how, protected, instant, bread, with, first, date, spinach, soup, everything, book, or, why, love, bullet, journaling, essay, tradition, newness, fiveminutefreewrite, recap, and, more, residency, interrupted, email, subscription, comments, categories, old, life, pics, ito, doing, all, things,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (218), and (218), that (104), was (89), for (69), this (59), writing (59), but (56), with (43), just (41), have (39), what (35), there (34), all (34), #things (33), had (33), like (30), about (28), been (27), out (27), day (25), one (25), not (25), journal (24), you (23), are (23), life (22), they (22), #bullet (21), when (21), from (20), our (20), more (20), going (18), then (18), how (17), new (17), can (17), time (17), could (17), because (17), write (16), were (16), thing (16), them (16), first (16), year (16), place (15), posted (15), get (14), myself (14), five (14), people (14), would (14), here (14), know (14), also (14), other (13), january (13), 2008 (13), back (13), some (13), 2006 (12), 2007 (12), 2009 (12), fiveminutefreewrite (12), phone (12), made (12), don (12), want (12), way (12), love (12), doing (12), will (12), few (12), started (12), minutes (12), done (12), now (11), book (11), susan (11), your (11), over (11), her (11), these (11), into (11), feel (11), bujo (11), little (11), november (10), december (10), march (10), april (10), good (10), maybe (10), being (10), she (10), got (10), many (10), down (10), right (10), much (10), last (10), feeling (10), did (10), might (10), where (10), soup (10), art (9), years (9), who (9), still (9), has (9), week (9), those (9), make (9), getting (9), big (9), blog (8), 2017 (8), compassion (8), work (8), put (8), away (8), think (8), friend (8), every (8), something (8), kind (8), thought (8), home (8), take (8), tags (8), next (8), really (8), anything (8), retreat (8), everything (8), even (8), meditation (8), purse (8), office (8), comment (7), comments (7), july (7), 2005 (7), august (7), february (7), may (7), posts (7), after (7), ever (7), writers (7), than (7), which (7), see (7), felt (7), two (7), around (7), shed (7), together (7), post (7), challenge (7), list (7), very (7), didn (7), mind (7), find (7), keep (7), bread (7), email (6), view (6), found (6), june (6), september (6), october (6), 2010 (6), nonfiction (6), miscellania (6), living (6), 527essays2017 (6), off (6), able (6), candle (6), never (6), again (6), today (6), prompt (6), word (6), wanted (6), well (6), beautiful (6), leave (6), prompts (6), happen (6), essay (6), both (6), each (6), having (6), doesn (6), jan (6), why (6), person (6), grotto (6), actually (6), making (6), paper (6), self (6), say (6), party (6), instagram (5), 2016 (5), month (5), days (5), same (5), either (5), should (5), state (5), come (5), needed (5), went (5), read (5), minute (5), free (5), took (5), close (5), knew (5), own (5), family (5), said (5), yes (5), words (5), share (5), use (5), twitter (5), using (5), wrote (5), 52essays2017 (5), looking (5), stuff (5), comfort (5), starting (5), let (5), sign (4), readingwritingliving (4), com (4), 2011 (4), 2015 (4), hello (4), hiatus (4), teaching (4), reading (4), hard (4), left (4), world (4), couldn (4), lit (4), ended (4), gotten (4), end (4), house (4), too (4), need (4), car (4), night (4), space (4), best (4), any (4), daily (4), ago (4), another (4), happy (4), sure (4), open (4), desk (4), enough (4), truly (4), came (4), tradition (4), hot (4), long (4), food (4), bulletjournal (4), video (4), panicky (4), notebook (4), makes (4), recently (4), began (4), notes (4), tried (4), books (4), password (4), terrible (4), husband (4), someone (4), since (4), events (4), required (3), site (3), subscribed (3), subscribe (3), join (3), 2013 (3), old (3), protected (3), resist (3), seeking (3), longest (3), exercises (3), tour (3), photos (3), monday (3), literary (3), mama (3), fiction (3), health (3), awp (3), election (3), address (3), enter (3), turn (3), only (3), turned (3), knowing (3), happened (3), city (3), news (3), haven (3), written (3), nothing (3), wasn (3), fire (3), room (3), lives (3), kids (3), realized (3), hand (3), door (3), sometimes (3), outside (3), window (3), colored (3), better (3), residency (3), sitting (3), amazing (3), bay (3), spread (3), friday (3), novel (3), entire (3), ten (3), others (3), several (3), great (3), decided (3), random (3), note (3), soon (3), rituals (3), deal (3), tonight (3), file (3), papers (3), hadn (3), front (3), moving (3), weeks (3), couple (3), became (3), ritual (3), audience (3), its (3), celebration (3), lot (3), almost (3), journaling (3), important (3), lost (3), finally (3), glad (3), months (3), start (3), change (3), probably (3), reasons (3), works (3), taken (3), kept (3), key (3), once (3), bit (3), pen (3), calendar (3), taking (3), bunch (3), laptop (3), figuring (3), showed (3), despair (3), organized (3), eventually (3), his (3), including (3), basically (3), part (3), most (3), sick (3), date (3), spinach (3), voting (3), laws (3), cry (3), women (3), harm (3), yet (3), hang (3), chair (3), before (3), insight (3), credit (3), morning (3), published (3), substack (3), trip (3), york (3), name (2), bar (2), manage (2), content (2), log (2), wordpress (2), 356 (2), subscribers (2), mar (2), search (2), 2012 (2), 2022 (2), 2024 (2), select (2), instant (2), recent (2), performance (2), oakland (2), movies (2), memoir (2), creative (2), eating (2), asian (2), american (2), adoption (2), categories (2), focus (2), paradise (2), regret (2), called (2), pick (2), although (2), though (2), walk (2), texted (2), twenty (2), four (2), street (2), friends (2), steps (2), prepared (2), holding (2), suddenly (2), awake (2), second (2), barely (2), far (2), aren (2), settling (2), letting (2), saw (2), painful (2), shocking (2), tree (2), gently (2), tiny (2), hands (2), bought (2), mirror (2), distracted (2), expected (2), mine (2), distraction (2), tomales (2), online (2), classes (2), serious (2), dec (2), anybody (2), facebook (2), please (2), completed (2), essays (2), amazed (2), consistency (2), pieces (2), pretty (2), plate (2), dive (2), vanessa (2), following (2), imagined (2), novels (2), recommend (2), minimum (2), takes (2), page (2), cleaning (2), holidays (2), track (2), inspiration (2), blogging (2), basket (2), under (2), visible (2), anymore (2), noticed (2), tense (2), stand (2), pile (2), calming (2), look (2), early (2), dear (2), community (2), else (2), hope (2), begin (2), past (2), dojo (2), member (2), sounds (2), affected (2), drums (2), loved (2), teacher (2), announced (2), group (2), 20th (2), members (2), always (2), rice (2), pounding (2), set (2), remember (2), preparing (2), taiko (2), sunday (2), exactly (2), point (2), without (2), pages (2), whole (2), live (2), small (2), hour (2), constantly (2), real (2), blogs (2), youtube (2), pinterest (2), ton (2), spot (2), care (2), aspects (2), gtd (2), lessons (2), composition (2), totally (2), favorite (2), practice (2), calligraphy (2), run (2), physically (2), planner (2), led (2), desperate (2), man (2), falling (2), shit (2), different (2), organizing (2), upsetting (2), literally (2), face (2), incredibly (2), chaotic (2), ultimately (2), somehow (2), electronic (2), evernote (2), longer (2), relationship (2), reason (2), terrified (2), wonderful (2), believe (2), moosewood (2), him (2), comforting (2), afternoon (2), least (2), course (2), finding (2), vote (2), whatever (2), future (2), democracy (2), guess (2), show (2), numbers (2), lawmakers (2), matter (2), movie (2), racist (2), inspiring (2), president (2), obama (2), marches (2), law (2), forms (2), tomorrow (2), resistance (2), feels (2), control (2), posting (2), vanish (2), during (2), press (2), gathered (2), thousand (2), hey (2), through (2), goes (2), tears (2), sides (2), loser (2), okay (2), monsters (2), fascinating (2), story (2), leaving (2), timer (2), head (2), blown (2), careless (2), sit (2), suggested (2), idea (2), cards (2), hotel (2), drove (2), charges (2), oops (2), must (2), attended (2), parties (2), meditate (2), gift (2), app (2), trying (2), extra (2), coming (2), launch (2), hear (2), busy (2), event (2), phew (2), final (2), quiet (2), reception (2), awards (2), thankfully (2), restful (2), tub (2), newsletter (2), ito (2), website, loading, collapse, subscriptions, reader, report, privacy, already, account, images, pics, 2026, 2014, 214, south, beach, diet, solo, sandwich, generation, rowing, 111, race, strokes, nanowrimo, memory, momming, 114, meme, 242, column, hapa, funning, diabetes, daughtering, crew, choice, association, programs, alphabet, history, 103, category, joyce, nayeem, michael, alenyikov, berkeleyscot, receive, notifications, subscription, older, publish, wifi, squander, shows, leaky, vessel, heart, sequester, shut, blocked, internet, similar, wish, dragged, initial, scrolled, clicked, suppose, earlier, flight, airport, rattled, emotional, flames, licked, evacuated, stayed, baby, daughter, claiming, vibrant, easily, daughters, dancing, mirrors, ghost, ship, drawn, perished, question, saying, jump, drive, spend, hold, slapped, unpredictability, granted, hesitated, picked, understand, tragedy, shock, hours, listened, float, vibrated, glanced, holds, itself, ways, startles, yesterday, settled, warming, noticing, soft, subtle, movements, pine, boughs, breathing, lagoon, ripples, water, otherwise, wrapped, woven, blanket, snuggled, thick, wine, fingerless, gloves, town, crafts, fair, writes, shortcoming, allowing, worse, leaked, three, residents, bedroom, main, overlooking, dream, desks, moved, underneath, plenty, arrived, plan, laid, proposal, finishing, oaklandfire, isolation, grief, distractions, interrupted, borrow, steal, anywhere, insta, include, tag, marry, essayaweek, happens, impressed, depth, excited, nervous, full, missed, regularly, call, mártir, along, holiday, weekend, hanukkah, christmas, jammed, behind, stitched, continually, surprising, scenes, cohesive, astounded, inspired, generic, depending, mood, mini, scene, progress, turns, handwritten, worried, semester, duties, shopping, gatherings, often, trouble, easy, thrown, thursday, recap, unfamiliar, discover, bring, newish, familiar, uninspiring, stressful, renewed, folders, floor, sudden, focused, calm, darkness, windows, upset, late, metal, standing, holder, labels, urgent, taxes, permanent, marker, overflowing, talk, screaming, agony, tides, filling, receding, branches, gorgeous, light, fortunate, awarded, true, aware, tremendous, suffering, beacon, lighting, powerful, intention, mesa, refuge, attempting, setting, guarantee, success, tools, worked, smells, tastes, powerfully, deep, heartbeat, strong, celebrating, original, return, tempted, thinking, fresh, recognizing, honoring, traditional, japanese, mochitsuki, participated, performing, rhythm, lighter, higher, toned, handled, wooden, mallets, essentially, stump, smoothed, sanded, shallow, bowl, visitors, nervously, public, emeryville, martir, mochi, newness, letter, brings, losing, bummer, ordered, users, lab, kaiser, beside, retraced, staff, yeah, tile, locally, coffee, google, hangout, skype, private, class, sorry, sold, interest, consider, scheduling, journals, met, buddy, geeked, oohing, ahhing, overwhelmed, pace, absolute, beauty, videos, intrigued, watch, whenever, recorded, tracked, oothed, incorporate, coherent, learned, valuable, operate, realistically, gentle, firm, evaluate, mindful, problem, haphazard, forget, elements, helpful, index, doodle, vine, collage, rubber, stamps, pressure, cringe, zone, soothing, calms, highlighting, cements, typing, dictating, accomplished, reality, check, replacement, digital, conjunction, analog, aspect, forward, analyzer, less, currently, research, optimize, projects, puts, combination, infinitely, stationery, store, kinds, pre, loaded, planners, gave, queasy, joy, ugh, goals, fill, blanks, 5minutefreewrites, adding, revising, abandoning, sense, customizable, flexible, forgiving, haha, describe, 26th, soothed, short, nickname, range, minimalist, uses, demonstrates, super, artsy, panic, founder, ryder, carroll, searching, hashtags, ran, dots, followed, instructional, laughing, loud, within, seconds, devouring, pac, scraps, bits, summer, article, panicking, soothes, flailing, hither, thither, pit, loathing, finger, hundred, system, bound, regular, embarrassing, screw, ups, stacks, premise, task, represented, stick, wall, smushing, satisfying, record, mess, plain, closest, sticking, unsatisfying, help, david, allen, method, spent, boatload, seminars, sustain, line, computer, apps, reminders, etc, none, lasted, clipping, saving, fraught, managing, envious, meticulous, notebooks, hers, replicate, fathom, involved, lists, bedtime, terms, tracker, lifehack, diary, clock, says, children, guests, weather, intentions, whole30, grain, sugar, alcohol, plus, dairy, 1st, skipping, raining, sweetie, magically, thirty, later, nope, element, known, apartment, 1982, green, delicious, loaf, crusty, fathomed, exist, growing, jersey, cold, rainy, pajamas, until, poor, hubby, plaintively, requesting, saltines, ginger, ale, tylenol, asked, brightened, misery, signed, challenges, choose, quickies, freehand, possible, stretch, fifty, rules, vegetarian, marriage, wednesday, below, unless, darkly, predict, between, marching, smarter, stronger, fills, million, eligible, voters, apathy, anger, laziness, voted, sealed, forever, gone, precious, calls, letters, boring, intimidating, bodies, comes, matters, struck, watching, miscegenation, married, risk, imprisonment, coincidence, featured, virginia, loving, mother, disturbing, brilliant, endure, racism, sexism, invisible, decades, honored, age, hell, brought, restrict, mary, jackson, intelligent, driven, aeronautical, engineer, degree, prevented, segregated, white, school, scenario, disgusting, denied, education, thousands, millions, insidiously, hidden, figures, happening, strongly, means, technology, basic, internets, honest, overnight, case, collapses, cease, useful, civil, war, used, printing, sewed, secret, underground, railroad, figured, support, weirdly, strange, compulsion, various, embroidery, headed, backwards, stitching, tablecloths, barack, unfathomably, politics, activism, minds, funny, buddha, everyone, pass, fall, onto, armrests, red, raft, wow, half, beat, upon, exhausting, curious, such, enormous, effort, crumb, arm, places, incredible, absolutely, shocked, veritable, zoo, unlocked, appointments, huge, crumbling, mountain, try, fruitless, worst, earth, shouldn, trusted, giant, domino, game, stupidly, somewhere, apart, ruin, hemmed, hawed, while, scratched, surface, mad, voices, telling, indication, stupid, heard, yourself, dripping, gush, sobbing, grip, guided, agreed, drawer, counted, cash, weird, charge, somebody, waiting, expecting, paranoid, fool, image, financial, crashing, compromised, bureaucracy, accounts, fault, inside, cringed, pulled, clothes, brush, hair, wash, grabbed, card, gas, shell, station, chevron, filled, declined, wonder, wandering, 100, wide, wrong, activated, radiating, blue, dot, writer, secured, give, bed, chatting, elevator, bag, transfer, across, bridge, dropped, text, trunk, popped, anyway, fun, celebratory, grand, perfect, introvert, extravert, environment, jam, folks, drinks, starts, noisy, claustrophobic, cozy, couch, nice, acquired, cross, country, invite, passersby, quieter, personal, chat, conversations, forth, san, francisco, normally, rarely, intimate, affirming, introduced, headspace, commitment, mental, spiritual, fragile, depressed, unfolding, 21st, bleak, stunningly, doubt, mindfulness, criticism, buddhism, saturday, photo, lucas, pereira, pexels, yay, counting, cover, reveal, finalized, title, blurbs, arcs, unboxing, amassed, followers, zoom, launches, dusting, seeing, erase, paying, alive, precarious, resume, looked, energy, convinced, mastodon, y2k, style, scare, nov, deeper, periods, panels, cal, composing, particularly, official, hit, thanksgiving, southern, california, fantastic, midwest, visits, iowa, chicago, florida, recovery, retreats, respites, silent, beloved, santa, sabina, center, unfortunately, won, foreseeable, england, area, oahu, whirlwind, kansas, wrestling, shockingly, warm, review, associated, local, newspapers, biggest, surprise, named, finalist, national, critics, circle, award, flying, finalists, ceremony, afterward, hollywood, ceremonies, winners, cameras, panning, showing, reaction, shots, rent, buy, gown, seems, mostly, black, attire, sparkly, shirt, wear, library, finish, deck, adoptee, vacation, connecting, productive, napping, discussed, conundrum, fashion, comeback, paralyzed, decide, substacks, overloaded, add, medium, traveling, publishing, adoptees, tuesday, samuel, origami, onigiri, angels, mileva, amanita, phalloides, ticket,

Text of the page (random words):
love going to parties at the grotto because for me it s a perfect introvert extravert environment i can jam myself in with all the folks in the big party room get food and drinks and when it starts feeling to hot noisy or claustrophobic i can retreat down the all to my own cozy little office i have my own couch desk and a really nice chair that i recently acquired from someone who was moving cross country i like to sit in there with my door open and invite passersby to come in and hang out with me for a quieter more personal chat i had some wonderful conversations moving back and forth from the big party to my own little party when it was time to leave i was with a friend and we were chatting it up on the way to elevator i had gathered up my laptop bag and some other things i d wanted to transfer from office to home and i was distracted we drove across the bridge and i dropped her off then i thought it would be a good idea to text my husband and let him know i was on my way home oops no phone it must be in my purse in the trunk i got out of the car and popped the turn no purse either big oops i guess i must have left my purse and my phone in my office i got home and activated find my phone sure enough it was radiating a little blue dot at the grotto address then i got an email from another grotto writer that someone had found my purse where and she d secured it in her office there okay i actually didn t give it much thought i knew where my stuff was i went to bed in the morning my husband showed me some charges from our credit card on his laptop had i gotten gas at a shell station at chevron i knew i d filled the car but which was it and what was this hotel both charges had been declined but it made me wonder what if someone had taken my purse out of my office where had someone found it why had i been wandering around a 100 person party and leaving my office door wide open what was wrong with me suddenly i had an image of our financial life crashing down around us all of the credit cards compromised bureaucracy having to change all of our accounts and it was all my fault because i was careless something inside me cringed i have to go i pulled on my clothes didn t even brush my hair or wash my face i grabbed the car key and drove back to the city there in my friend s office was the purse there was my phone in my desk drawer i counted all the credit cards and the cash and everything was there probably no harm was done but maybe it was what was that weird hotel charge maybe somebody took all my numbers and are waiting to use them when i am not expecting it maybe i m just a paranoid fool i texted my husband that i d found the purse and phone but that i needed to sit and get a grip he suggested that i do a guided compassion for self meditation that both of us know well i agreed that it was a good idea i hemmed and hawed for a while in my office before settling down and starting the meditation first i did a 5 minute self compassion meditation from insight timer i felt like it barely scratched the surface there were mad voices in my head telling me i d blown it i d blown it big and it was just an indication of what a terrible stupid careless loser i was as soon as i heard think of a time when you were feeling hard on yourself i started dripping tears then it was a gush then i was sobbing out of control man the places your mind goes that s the thing i ve noticed about meditation it s an incredible place and i was absolutely shocked to find myself even after no harm had been done in this veritable zoo of monsters unlocked monsters by the way if it wasn t so painful it would have been fascinating ok it s fascinating now there was a big story going down about how i always lost things i never keep track of my things my time my appointments my life it was just one huge crumbling chaotic mountain i could try to be more organized by using a bullet journal or whatever but ultimately it was fruitless because i m basically the worst person on earth and i shouldn t be trusted with anything it was a giant domino game that led from me stupidly leaving my purse somewhere at the grotto to our entire lives falling apart and my family being left in ruin all because of me wow where did that come from this thing took about half an hour to run its course i felt like i was being beat upon from all sides it was exhausting but also curious it felt like such an enormous effort to find my way to even a crumb of compassion eventually it came a little bit i was able to get myself up from the chair and put an arm around that other loser self and say hey it s okay the thing that i find comforting about this practice is knowing that hey the buddha went through this too everyone goes through it and yet we think it s totally all about us and i also felt comfort in knowing that like everything else that it would eventually pass i just had to let the tears fall to hang onto the armrests of my red chair like the sides of a life raft and hang on minds are funny things resist but how 20 friday jan 2017 posted by susan in 527essays2017 life miscellania 1 comment tags activism art democracy politics resistance writing this is 3 of 52essays2017 it s january 20th barack obama is not president anymore it s unfathomably terrible how could this have happened well we can t go over that again a thousand people have written about it but that doesn t matter right now it s what are we doing to do now i ve found myself very weirdly finding strange comfort or actually a compulsion to do things by hand i m not sure what this is about but i m feeling a need to write more things with a pen and paper to keep a paper journal to make various forms of art and most recently to take up embroidery is it because i feel like we are headed backwards are we going to be sitting around stitching tablecloths maybe i want to be prepared in case the world somehow collapses and all of our electronic things are taken away or just cease to be useful what did people do during the civil war they wrote things by hand or used a printing press they sewed stuff they gathered in secret they had an underground railroad they figured out who needed what kind of support they organized i feel like things are going to get both more out of control with technology and also more basic i m feeling both i want to keep writing and posting things in the internets but to be honest i feel like it could just vanish overnight there are marches happening tomorrow i feel strongly that it is important to show up and make visible the resistance but i also feel that this will by no means be enough i m probably going to one of them but it feels more like something to make me feel better than to change things this afternoon i took my mother to see hidden figures yes it was inspiring but it was also disturbing and upsetting and at the end i wanted to cry i did cry a little i wanted to cry because of all the shit these brilliant women had to endure the racism and sexism and then being basically invisible for all of these decades one of them was honored by president obama at the age of 97 which was great but why the hell did it take so long this movie brought home several things for me but one thing was that as long as there are terrible laws that restrict and harm people all the marches aren t going to do a thing one of these women mary jackson was intelligent and driven and wanted to be an aeronautical engineer but she couldn t get a degree because of a law that prevented colored women from taking required classes at a segregated white school that whole scenario was so disgusting how many people were denied an education because of this law thousands millions and yes i know it s still going on insidiously and in other forms today this was the same thing that struck me when i was watching the movie loving same thing these people s lives were affected by racist miscegenation laws a married couple had to risk imprisonment for being together in the same state is it a coincidence that both of these movies featured racist laws in the state of virginia we can march to show our numbers to put our bodies in the street but really when it comes down to it is the lawmakers that matter it is voting that matters and once voting letting those lawmakers know what we want them to do making phone calls or writing letters might be more boring or more intimidating actually than holding a sign but it s just as important it fills me with despair that 90 million eligible voters did not vote in this election for whatever reason apathy anger despair laziness those people and the people who actually voted for t sealed the future of all of us maybe forever maybe our democracy is gone maybe all of us will be was the right to vote truly not precious enough to them i guess not but that s what it s going to take voting unless of course that was as some darkly predict our last election and in between marching organizing making art writing getting smarter getting stronger finding each other protected instant 15 sunday jan 2017 posted by susan in 527essays2017 adoption good things living enter your password to view comments this content is password protected to view it please enter the password below password bread with first date spinach soup 04 wednesday jan 2017 posted by susan in fiveminutefreewrite eating health life living nonfiction writing writing exercises leave a comment tags fiveminutefreewrite bread comfort food daily writing marriage soup vegetarian writing writing challenge writing prompt this is a fiveminutefreewrite day 4 in the january fiveminutefreewrite challenge prompt bread this year i ve signed myself up for a couple of writing challenges the 52essays2017 challenge and the daily fiveminutefreewrite that i started myself some days those five minutes will be just that five minutes i might choose to write here and post them as quickies or i might write them freehand in my journal and sometimes it s possible that the five minutes might stretch into fifty or more and turn into part of my novel or a longer essay i m not making any rules just that i write for at least five minutes a day following the prompt today s prompt is bread it s a cold rainy january day and i didn t even get out of my pajamas until early afternoon and i only did so because my poor hubby is sick and he was plaintively requesting sick food saltines ginger ale and tylenol i asked if he d like some moosewood spinach soup and he brightened up from his misery for a second that sounds good he said moosewood spinach soup is also known in our home as first date soup i first made it for him when he came to my apartment for the very first time in 1982 i made this beautiful green comforting delicious soup and i got a loaf of amazing crusty bread that i had never fathomed could exist when i was growing up in new jersey i have made this soup for celebration and for comfort for our children and for guests but it s most wonderful when you re feeling under the weather literally and physically we had had intentions of doing the whole30 no grain no sugar no alcohol but plus dairy starting january 1st i thought about just making the soup and skipping the bread part but i couldn t not today not when it s raining not when my sweetie is sick not when i magically believe this soup is what made our relationship happen in the first place and here we are thirty five years later nope i m not going to leave out a key element of first date soup bread clock says 9 minutes the everything book or why i love bullet journaling 02 monday jan 2017 posted by susan in bullet journal good things life living the writing life 1 comment tags fiveminutefreewrite bujo bullet journal bulletjournal community calendar diary journaling lifehack planner tracker writing this began as a fiveminutefreewrite with the prompt list i have had a fraught relationship with managing my to do list and basically my entire life for as long as i can remember i have a friend k who kept what she called list books and everything went in these books i was so envious of those meticulous notebooks of hers but for some reason i could not replicate them or even fathom how they were done they involved writing out lists at bedtime for the next day and anything that hadn t been completed had to be re written i think i was terrified of that part of having to come to terms with what i hadn t gotten done i tried a ton of electronic on line on computer and on phone apps including reminders notes evernote etc none of them lasted for longer than a few weeks although i still like evernote for clipping and saving things that i read online i tried paper things literally stacks of post it notes the premise being every task was represented on a note and i had to stick them on the wall in front of my face and taking them down smushing them up was satisfying when they were done but i had no record of having done anything and eventually it just became a big mess i also tried for almost a year a plain composition notebook and that was the closest thing i ever came to sticking with something but it was also incredibly chaotic unsatisfying and ultimately did not help me with getting anything done oh i also tried david allen s gtd getting things done method and almost spent a boatload of on one of his seminars because i was so desperate but somehow i couldn t sustain that either i began to despair that there was no way that my life was ever going to be organized and that i would be flailing about and writing notes to myself hither and thither and maybe getting some of it done but also falling into a pit of self loathing because i could never get all of my shit together i m a person who has a finger or two in about a hundred different things at once and without a good organizing system there are bound to be regular embarrassing upsetting screw ups then last summer i read this article the bullet journal works because it soothes your panicky mind i felt like it read my panicky mind yes my mind was panicking all the time i was desperate i ran out that very day and bought a notebook with dots i followed the five minute instructional video on how to set it up i started laughing out loud within the first few seconds of the video because it showed the journal open up and begin devouring like a pac man a bunch of post it notes and scraps of paper i thought of all the little bits of paper in my life and just like that my panicky mind began feeling soothed like right away i started searching hashtags bulletjournal and bujo short nickname on instagram which led me to pinterest i started figuring out that there is no one right way to keep a bullet journal that it can range from minimalist as bullet journal site founder ryder carroll uses and demonstrates in the video to super way artsy like this don t panic i started on august 26th and day by day week by week i began figuring things out i m still figuring things out but at this point five months in i am so in love with my...