Monday Minute

I miss writing my daily blog. It was interesting. As a tiny experiment, I really enjoyed and committed myself to writing a blog. I captured information throughout the day. But as soon as it was over, my grand plan, my intention to “just slow down” a bit, fell to pieces. I just didn’t do it.

I am not entirely sure why. I have a few habits that I have been committed to with some degree of rigor. Four in particular.

1. I check in with my emotions.
2. I read a daily “devotional."
3. I review 5 highlights on Readwise.
4. I read an inspirational / spiritual entry from Our Daily Bread.

So I try to track my emotions, read a little, review what I have learned, and connect with my faith.

I have a list of other habits I would like to follow, like exercise, writing, meditation, or even yoga for stretching (this becomes more important the longer you live); however, none are as consistent as those four. Probably because those four have some kind of streak counter in them.

But they are all also, largely consumption and intellectual activities. None of them are what I would call production activities. Where I need to produce something. Lately, it has been easy to defer producing. Despite all my “knowledge”, I find myself still to be human and subject to tides of emotion and motivation.

There is one thing that I do not do daily, but I have been committed to for some time, and that is drawing cartoons. I don’t know why I like it or do it, except it makes me happy. But those tend to be created in bursts, batches of 3-5 at a time, which I can schedule to post on social media and Comic Fury.

The year feels half over already. Now I find myself in the dreary, long tunnel of development, trying to build a business? Trying to establish some kind of positive impact with kids and video games. The time of the exciting ideas now gives way to, you have to do the “grindy” work of actually getting good at what you want to do.

This, of course, is a challenge for me. I suppose it is a challenge for anyone, but some part of me wants to say, “Yeah, but it is more of a challenge for me!" Sure, it is. I heard this cynical throwaway line from a trailer for a movie I never watched and can’t remember the name. It goes: It is the most ordinary thing in the world to want to believe you’re special.

When I get into this kind of funk, I feel like I need to go back to basics, which for me goes back to a core tenet of faith. Try to live with:

• Humility
• Faith
• Courage

I find it fascinating that when someone loses motivation, they are discouraged. It seems strange that courage, which sounds like a special case of facing danger or difficulty, is nevertheless linked with the motivation to charge out and do what you want to do. The gap between a good idea and executing it always feels… lonely.

Hello, Monday. '