5 of My Favorite Things This Week

1. Races Pictures!

We got some good ones last weekend at the Seahawks 12K like the one above of me, Mel and her sister. And, by the way, this might be the best race picture of me ever. Not too much double chin. I’m in the frame. I’m smiling. I might buy it. Would only be better if Mel was next to me instead of behind me, but I think this was the start where we were all smushed together.

2. 3 Books

If running is my therapist, then books are my life coach.

First off, I read Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald this week. It’s a quick read. It was interesting. It differs greatly from Metabolic Effect, as you probably imagine, but I liked it. Look for a post about these books coming up.

I have been struggling with my writer dreams a lot lately. In fact, I thought about giving them up. Luckily, I found these two books: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller, which I’m almost done with, and The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, which I just started.

A Million Miles relates storytelling and life, and it has encouraged me to look at life as a series of stories, and to work harder to create better stories. Get out of my comfort zone. Try new things. Have new experiences.

Next week, I will embark on the story of repping Nuun with my friend Zoë in Nashville. Occasionally, when I think about it, panic ripples through my stomach, followed by tingling. I am both petrified and thrilled to be going on this trip. Should make for a good story!

The War of Art tells me I am not alone. This constant, frustrating, confusing, powerful and unexplainable need to write fiction that I feel is not weird. A lot of artists and entrepreneur-type people have this curse, I now realize. I’ve only just started reading this book, but I look forward to its encouraging message, and hope it will help get me past, what Pressfield calls, The Resistance, so that I can get finally finish something!

3. Better Off Ted

I loved this show. Do you remember this show? It was on from March 2009 to Jan. 2010, so you may not remember it. I thought it was hilarious and could not (and still don’t) understand why it got canceled.

It’s about these people who work in the largest corporation in America. A company that is morally corrupt. They make everything from cryogenic freezing chambers and office chairs to meat grown in a lab. Obviously, it’s satire.

Well, it’s on Netflix now! I was so excited, I watched the pilot while I was on the treadmill today. Still funny!

And now that it’s been a few years, I wonder if the show was ahead of its time. The show’s main character breaks, what is known as, the “fourth wall” and talks to the audience. ALL the shows do that now, but that was unusual then.

I also think the subject about the ridiculous size and moral values of the corporation is more relevant now. Have you seen the show? If not, I highly recommend checking it out on Netflix.

4. New friends.

I have some great neighbors. But I don’t really know them. Although, I might seem outgoing, I’m also really insecure. I’m often afraid to spend time with new people, especially one-on-one time.

I talk a lot–especially when I’m nervous–and I’m loud. I overshare. I tell a lot of stories that often sometimes have no point. I’m learning to accept these things about myself. I am what I am.

Today, me and a neighbor went to the nail salon together and I had a blast. One of the nice ladies that works at the salon said to my friend, “She always has so much fun when she’s here.” I would like to be known as someone who is happy and who is fun to be around, so that was nice to hear.

Maybe that’s why I like Pharrell’s “Happy” song so much. I know not everyone likes it (although I can’t understand that!).

5. Writing

Mostly because of The War of Art, I am embracing writing fiction in a good, positive way. It’s not a curse, but a gift. I am making 30 minutes a day of creative writing my goal.

Changing my mentality from “all or nothing” to “every little bit counts.” Of course, blogging doesn’t count. Neither does my “day job” (copywriting).

But, so far, I’ve gone two days, and today I wrote what I think is a pretty good synopsis of a screenplay that I think I can outline and then *gasp* write the damn thing.