goals

New week

/ Tracy Abell

We had a corvid-rich weekend. It began on Saturday with lots and lots of crows as we walked around a unfamiliar neighborhood (after Emma was too agitated at sight of other dogs in the park we’d gone to for a walk). Multiple flocks of crows flying overhead then perching in various trees. They brought many smiles.

Then yesterday morning, we were in our front yard when a flock of crows flew past. But that wasn’t all. Moments later, this raven perched in the tree across the street for several minutes, making its croaking sound.

Photo by Zippy. March 13, 2022

Today is the first day of a new week. My goal is to embody this raven’s energy, looking ahead to new opportunities and experiences. Courageous in the face of whatever life brings.

#HoopDancingChallenge

/ Tracy Abell / 5 Comments

On New Year’s Eve of 2019, I counted up my hoop-dancing minutes and found I’d danced for 19 hours that year. That felt impressive and I thought to myself “How cool would it be to dance for 24 hours in 2020?” Well, we all know what happened that year and I didn’t hit the mark. Not by a long shot.

Last night I added up my hoop-dancing minutes: 17.5 hours. While that’s fewer minutes than 2019, there are still 8 days left in this year. I’d only need another 389 minutes and, the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. 2021 has  been another extremely difficult year–in some ways much harder than the previous–and I really want to close it out doing something that brings me so much joy.

Self portrait December 24, 2021

According to my complex mathematical computations, I’ll need to average 49 hoop-dancing minutes per day to hit my goal. I just danced for 36, smiling the whole time. Now I’m off to ice my recently de-booted foot so I can get back into the spin later today.

Goal met!

/ Tracy Abell / 18 Comments

As mentioned here (and here and here), I set a goal to finish another draft of my middle grade novel by June 30th. Today is that day and I’m pleased to report I just placed an order to have the manuscript printed and bound!

Image by Febri Amar from Pixabay

To be clear, this is NOT a photo of me. I don’t have mad hops, not even on my best days, and right now I’m too tuckered to leap anywhere except possibly onto the couch. Rest assured, though, my inner Tracy is currently jumping for joy.

Hooray for setting and meeting personal goals!

Sunday Confessional: one week in & already days behind

/ Tracy Abell / 2 Comments

Last Sunday was Day One of my modified NaNoWriMo efforts. For a very short time, I was ahead of my goals. Hooray, I thought, I have a little padding for those inevitable days when the words don’t come so easily!

Image by klimkin from Pixabay

HAHAHAHAHHAHA.

In one week, I’ve changed a major premise of the story. All the original elements remain, but the plot line has shifted. What does this mean for my goals? Well, I dumped much of what was written and now have a grand total of 4,430 words when I should have 8,000.

Guess I’d best get to it.

Ready or not here I come

/ Tracy Abell

It’s a new week and I’m in fake-it-’til-I-make-it mode. There are seriously messed up things happening on the planet and my gut instinct is to stay in bed reading books and eating toast for the rest of my life. But that’s exactly what all the horrible people out there wreaking havoc right now want; they’re counting on wearing us down so that we start averting our gaze.

Nope. Books and toast are good, but constant vigilance is essential.

Today I’m gonna make like a prairie dog . . . and keep fighting the good fight.

Bunny Monday

/ Tracy Abell / 3 Comments

I was at my front window doing quad stretches this morning when I realized I wasn’t alone. One of the many neighborhood bunnies was hunkered down in the vinca, showing an utter lack of concern for my presence.

Goal for today: no matter what arises I’ll try to maintain a chill bunny vibe.

Bunny hubris

/ Tracy Abell / 1 Comment

As I hooped this morning, a bunny came into view. The furry beauty remained in that same spot, calmly chewing and staring into space, despite the fact that I spun and twirled nearby. And then Marcel, sensing something outside, jumped up in the window. The bunny casually glanced toward where the big white cat stared longingly, and immediately returned to her bunny business.

I’d like to emulate that self-confidence during this coming week. Me and the bunny, not overly concerned with matters outside our personal spheres.

Channeling my inner squirrel

/ Tracy Abell / 2 Comments

This guy was at the feeder that hangs right outside our living room window.  When I sat to watch him liberate shelled peanuts from the cylinder, he immediately copped an attitude. He was furious that I was interfering with his efforts, and most certainly the chatter aimed at me was profane.

This squirrel’s head about popped off.

I admired him so much. Check out his body language. At first glance, you’d think the guy was chill, focused and absolutely motionless. Except. Note the blurred tail.

That is my goal for today as I tackle my revisions: to work with intense focus while also keeping in constant motion.

How to multi-task during March Madness

/ Tracy Abell

Today is the first day of March Madness which means basketball ALL DAY LONG. And I confess that I’ll watch these games ALL DAY LONG. However, I got up and got some stuff done before the tournament started. I did maintenance on my two worm bins (mite infestation YUCK) and worked on my writing project. But since then I’ve been parked in front of the television, switching between games (where there have already been two nail-biters, yo). In my defense, I am multi-tasking.

Here I am shredding newspaper for the worm bins. Not only does it relieve some guilt regarding the time I devote to watching men’s college basketball, it turns out that ripping paper into strips is a good way to let off steam when the team I’m rooting for is behind.

Shred on.

 

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Hoop Dreams

/ Tracy Abell

I used to hoop a lot and then I guess I lost enthusiasm because I never found my flow which made me feel clompy and uncoordinated and less-than-awesome in comparison with the many other people who seem to float as they hoop. BUT, today I’m feeling the urge to do more than spin the hoop around my waist while watching college basketball or whatever other television program I’d rather not view while sitting on my butt, and I want to learn to float and dance and do lots of graceful, cool tricks. I want to be the hooper of my imagination.

You heard it here first, people: I am going to cast off those clompy-Frankenstein-feelings and try to reclaim my joy in the spin. I am going to resume my pursuit of FLOW!

Not me, not even close, but a lovely hooper from Morguefile,com who will inspire me to get back in the spin

(Not me, not even close). This is a lovely hooper from Morguefile.com who I hope will keep me inspired to get back in the spin.

There Will Be Beauty

/ Tracy Abell / 9 Comments

                

Lots of friends are posting their goals for 2012
and I'd like to share one, too:

I hope to to see the beauty that's always there waiting for me to notice.


                                                                                  © Tracy Abell 2011

                      

Setting Goals and Reaching Them

/ Tracy Abell / 16 Comments

                      

Just found out that Zebu made the junior varsity basketball team for summer league.


                                                                                    image from morguefile.com

The boy is a work horse.
Not naturally gifted, but an incredibly hard worker who went after what he wanted.

I could learn a lot from him.
           

Goals One and Two Reached!

/ Tracy Abell / 40 Comments

Last June I wasn’t sure I could keep on writing,
and the thought of attending my local SCBWI conference again
without any professional/career progress to show after another year
of effort was horrible to contemplate.

I needed to accomplish something that would help me hold my head high.

So I set two goals: I would apply for a conference manuscript critique AND 
finish the revision of BIRD BRAIN before the conference.

A few weeks ago, I found out I’m having a critique with Bruce Coville.
(Goal One: check!)
And today, just a few moments ago, I finished my revision.
(Goal Two: check!)

There are still days when I doubt my sanity in all this,
but I have to believe I will prevail.


Gaining Flexibility

/ Tracy Abell / 31 Comments

            

Last February I proclaimed to the world (um, my little Live Journal circle of friends)
that I wanted to focus on flexibility in 2009.
I hoped to touch my head to my knees by the end of the year.

I’m not quite there.
But as you can see by these photos, I’m definitely making progress:

  February 2009                                                  January 2010
       

Most every morning I start my day with my litte Kundalini Yoga workout dvd.
I love it and not only because it’s helped me become more flexible.
I love it because during the hardest-for-me pose, the "narrator" says PREVAIL!