random things on my mind

Several days ago this link floated across my timeline on facebook, claiming to identify your facebook friends' personality types by their status updates. I would not have paid any attention to it, expect the person who posted it had quoted this part:

It's like looking into the mirror, but made of words.

(to be fair, I don't ever get into vehement arguments with my conservative uncle on facebook... because I learned my lesson and blocked him years ago, and know better than to friend any of my other conservative uncles. but the general gist of that description is pretty damn accurate)

So then I got curious and took an online Myers-Briggs personality test which confirmed me as an INFP, and reading the personality profile was incredibly eerie because so much of it was so very spot on. Especially the parts about being very hard to really get to know. I've worked at trying to be more open (this blog being one of the best ways for me to express myself), but still, very few people get to see my inner workings.

>>---<<

I recently read Lee Gutkind's You Can't Make This Stuff Up (on writing creative non-fiction) which was really interesting and inspiring and responsible for several of the blog posts I managed to actually publish in the past month or so. I am now close to finishing Roxane Gay's Bad Feminist (indeed, need to finish it in the next 2 days and the library needs it back...) which is also pretty amazing. But it's also been fascinating how, after reading Gutkind's book, I am reading other nonfiction works both for their content and also noticing and thinking about the writing itself (at least in a different way than usual). I am reading it from the perspective of a writer as well as as audience/reader.

>>---<<

Soon after writing my last post, I remembered the advice I have read many times in regard to writing and other creative practices-- make it a daily habit. Set up a daily practice, so you do it even when you don't quite feel like it, and the practice and ritual will make you better.

So I'm trying this new thing-- I have an alarm set on my phone for 8am every weekday. That's a time when, most mornings, I am out of bed and having my coffee, and the boys are awake but often occupied with a game or show. So when my alarm goes off I will sit down at my computer and work on photos, for even just 20 or 30 minutes, which makes the task seem less daunting. The goal is to help me get through the less-exciting parts of my workflow, so I can do more of the fun stuff, too. I am notoriously sucky at making and maintaining new habits like this, so we'll see how it goes. I'm on day 4 right now, and so far so good.