I’m not sure what I thought ‘being a writer’ meant, but a lot of the times it means a weird struggle. Not just against my ADHD tendencies or my inner critic, but just to word. I don’t even mean write, I mean word. If you get it, you get it - and if you don’t, well, that’s cool, too.
I did get to see my words featured in an email blast, so my struggles were worth it. Two of the articles I wrote about taking a breath are published by my friends at Prrl Labs. Take a Breath Part I, and Part II.
Then there’s the lab story. I sent a draft to a couple of friendly labs seeking quotes and have gotten a lot of static back. Finally, after a particularly frustrating day (phone interruptions are terrible for me to work through and I’m going to start letting them go to voicemail again), I think I’ve found someone to care about the lab story, and I turned it over to him to do it some justice. In the meantime, I published this piece about how the labs actually cheat the numbers. Since no one would be quoted - there are no quotes in it. But I think I can speak with authority, at least on this part of the subject. I don’t think many people can beat how much time I’ve spent on this story at this point!
Darren and I took a little trip to Southern Oregon, and I’m going to be embarking on some edibles, tinctures, etc. as the result of that trip. It’s rare that I’m off the grid any more these days (I am mainly in my little apartment all day, every day), so it was nice to be offline - and to ‘take a vacation from my problems’ (My What About Bob tattoo delighted many people this weekend!).
Speaking of movies, I’ve also been working on a piece about Severance, which is pretty much our latest addiction around here. It’s a fun thing to puzzle on, and there are some really exceptional moments of masterwork in there. It’s been nice to write about something where I know it’s not going to be interfering with something else that I’m waiting on, etc. Same with the longer work about The Phantom of The Paradise. They are both slow going, but I’m grateful when I get to carve out time to do that.
I think I’m going to try and come up with a publication schedule for myself but that leaves the writer in me worried (the content creator less so, I suppose). We’ll see if I feel like developing something like that - based on the two weeks I’ve had to sit on the story about How Labs Cheat, I’m skeptical I could comply with whatever I came up with.
This week I have some upcoming pieces on vaporizers, and one on the High Priestess, tarot-wise. I also have a new series I’m putting together on the cannabinoids (like I did with the terpenes), and some other longer-range visions for where I’m going to take things. Hopefully I’ll get my client work finished today / tomorrow (and I’m grateful to have a lot of client work on my plate right now!).
I recently purchased the domain, ‘The Highest Priestess’ and I think it’s a great purchase for me (I purchase domains like some people purchase lattes - infrequently and as a treat). I’ve long associated with the card since it was identified as my Major Arcana significator by my second tarot mentor, and is also my ‘Soul Card.’ It’ll be neat to delve into what the card means - but the personal meaning is already pretty powerful.
My ‘vacation from my problems’ was more of a working vacation. While there, one of my favorite clients was adamant that I always remain authentic - to myself, to what I want, and to how I speak to people. It stuck with me, because he’s really smart, knows his marketing shit, and grows my favorite weed. Obviously I think he knows what he’s talking about (also his resume is ridiculously impressive).
It ultimately helped reassure me that the path I am on, though difficult, is the one I should be on. On Father’s Day, that was some pretty reassuring stuff to hear.