I LIVE! · 5:46am Dec 10th, 2015
Okay, so I guess I haven't been silent that long, but I have wanted to get something out there, since I've been considerably less active than normal in that time.
So, updates: (Page break inserted so I can figure out how many people actually read these things)
First and most prominent in my mind, I just finished off my microeconomics paper. It still needs editing, and I still need to make a PowerPoint for the accompanying presentation on Monday, but that's easy stuff. I can knock out the rest of it in under two hours, easily. (That's a lot less than the twenty-plus hours I spent poring over this thing, researching it, and throwing out research on because it wasn't good enough. And that's before you include the time avoiding this thing because it was such a drain on my time and energy. Not a healthy strategy, but I've always been a procrastinator about stressful big assignments.)
Second, my work hours have been going up as we approach Christmas. The holiday season is a pretty busy time, so I've been shouldering a bit more responsibility. That's been just great combined with my schoolwork. [/sarcasm]
Third, it's winter. (Obviously, for anyone in the Northern Hemisphere.) The snowfall hasn't been an issue this year (yet), but the limited sunlight certainly has. It's possible that I have seasonal affective disorder (basically seasonal depression), although I have not seen any medical or mental health professionals about it. I might not, for all I know, but certainly there has been something keeping me down. It has been a thing for at least this winter and last, so I'm a bit concerned about it. Whatever's going on, it has put a major damper on... pretty much everything.
Between all of these things, it should come as no surprise that my writing went from over an hour each day to almost nothing in just a few days. I've only had two writing days in the last three weeks, and I wrote less than 500 words total between the two. However, I have felt a bit better this week (possibly due to finally finishing off this paper), so I should be able to get back to it. I've started having more than just an occasional downer of an idea again, although I haven't gotten back to my usual brand of silly, cute, and shippy. If I can stay in relatively good cheer, perhaps you'll see some kind of story being published soon. I wouldn't count on it for a while, though--I'm more or less starting from square one, and I've been going through a change of style into longer, slower, more serious romance-y stories. Those are always harder for me to even get to a point worth publishing.
So, that's everything relevant to writing that has been going on lately. I'm gonna hit the hay now. I've got a full shift that I've got to wake up for in less than seven hours.
School and work takes precedent, of course. Hopefully you get a little bit of time during Winter break to get some writing in. Looking forward to see what you come out with in 2016.
3607117
That's the hope. After a long enough time of not completing anything, I start to feel like a meth addict going through withdrawal. That wears off after a while and just becomes a slump. I'm sure that didn't really help whatever had me down.
Not really my business, but I would advise getting it checked if convenient. Better to at least know for sure you have a condition like that in case it gives you a little down when life hands you a big down. When stress happens, it is nice to already have the key to half the mess and know how to manage it.
And another thing I notice - the more you shrug something off, the more you find it normal
3609451
The semester is almost over. I'll talk to my parents about it once the semester ends. I honestly don't even know where I would begin in finding out if I had that or getting treatment if I do. It's a bridge to be crossed at a later point, but hopefully not too long from now.