My Fix for 2020

I worked last night, getting home around 7 AM. I was able to sleep for almost four hours, only being interrupted by robo callers twice. Since I often use an app on my phone called Brain.fm to get to sleep, I must to have my phone in the bedroom. There are pros and cons; getting sleeping during the day is a work in progress.

I’ve been working toward a daily routine that will be productive, creatively fulfilling, and keep me from going crazy for lack of getting shit done.

So far, today has gone well.

I began by drinking only water, having decided to fast until later in the day. I set out all of my HMR food, shakes, fruits and vegetables, then added up the calories to make sure I was close to my target. (There will be adjustments later tonight, depending on how active I am and how much willpower I maintain.)

The goal is to take some decision-making out of eating, possibly leading to better choices, and less time spent hunting for food.

Next, I wrote (and voice dictated) using Scrivner iOS on my phone while I stretched for 60 minutes, getting a good amount of words done, and coming up with a very satisfying ending for Victory Day, They Came for Blood, 3. (Ninety-nine percent of the book is already with the editor for round two.) As a bonus, my hips didn’t feel trashed when I got up from my writing session.

Next, I did 15 minutes of karate, mostly American Kenpo (Ed Parker/ Tom Kelly), and 15 minutes of Brazilian jujitsu, using one of my kid’s large stuffed lion as a training dummy. Not ideal, but the experiment convinced me I probably need an actual jujitsu training dummy for home drills. (And I need to get to class on my days off.) I also watched a Rigan Machado DVD I have on BJJ technique.

Feeling good about my day so far, I finished prepping my food and did the dishes before my wife got home. That’s also a very important key to happiness. Happy wife, happy life. And I like to be helpful around the house, believe it or not.

Last night, I learned, as did most of the indie writing community, that 20 Books to Vegas was canceled. Sam’s Town, the hotel hosting the event, informed Craig Martelle they couldn’t handle it. So what had been planned as the greatest collection of independent writers to date, has now fallen down the well of despair that is 2020.

Which brings me to my next point. I’m tired of everybody (including myself) blaming crap on 2020. It’s a lazy, negative way of thinking we all need to get over with now. That’s my opinion. Not everyone will like it.

Negativity has momentum, and everybody is jumping on board the downer train. Yes, a lot of bad things happened this year. But this isn’t the first time in history humanity has faced challenges.

I’m ready for some serious positive thinking, and less divisiveness. We need to lighten up and love each other more. Show some compassion. Help one another out. Accept help when we need it. And basically, just be good human beings.

There, I said it. Is that crazy?

If all goes well, I will get a decent nap before a few rounds playing Fortnite with the kids.

Video games and social media aren’t the enemy. The problem arises when we don’t live intentionally and just float down the river of life letting garbage stick to us because that’s what everyone else is doing.

Be safe. Have fun. Live your life.

Scott