Jack of Many Trades

(If You're Going Through Hell) Keep Going

Originally posted: 2015-12-18

Well, guys, the year is wrapping up and since being a professional doll stylist is a limited time engagement, I'm starting to think about what I want to do in 2016 aside from braiding hair. Other bloggers are talking about key words and personal mantras and the frankly, the closest thing I have to a personal mantra right now is "if you're going through hell, keep going."

That particular quote has done a lot for me at various times in my struggle with OCD. I know from experience that I can do anything for a few months, and that no matter how bad my anxiety is at the moment, my brain weasels will break before I do, and eventually I will start functioning again. Looking at next year, though, I think I need a different kind of keep going in my life.

Finishing is hard. Finishing is particularly hard right now, as I'm working a lot and prone to wanting to spend my downtime doing fun things. But unfinished, unsorted or messy things hang over my head, and getting something sorted away and taken care of makes me very, very happy. So I should do what makes me happy. I should keep going until a project is done - either until it's finished, or until I'm ready to give it up, or sometimes until it's at a natural stopping point while I let it incubate more.

Puzzles, for example. I have drafted Puzzles no less than four times from scratch. I've completely overhauled the outline at least twice. Nothing I do makes me happy. It's time to keep going instead of walking in circles - so I'm going to move on to Unstuck, which is named rather ironically now that I think about it.

I am planning to talk about writing a lot more. I am planning to really look long and hard at what's on my In Progress list. I'm going to finish the lesbian mermaid story. Everything else is up for grabs.

Let's see what happens, eh?