Category: NaBloPoMo

First off, let me answer the question “what the hell is NaBloPoMo??” To start, it’s short for National Blog Posting Month, a time when people commit to posting on their blogs at least once a day for the full month.

For me, it’s torture. I’ve promised numerous times that I would blog more, yet…I don’t update as often as I wish I did. I frequently say, “there’s a blog post in my head that I need to write” ™. There are multiple reasons as to why I don’t blog and the one I’ll admit publicly is that my ADHD is too severe to sit down and…LOOK! Shiny things!!

In all honesty, I get stage fright when I write.  I wonder if readers will fully follow my train of thought. But don’t worry, it’s not you; it’s me. It’s hard to get the thoughts from my head to my fingers fast enough and I think that more times than not, my thoughts end up being a mumbled mess of words that I totally understand because they’re MY thoughts, yet make no sense to those outside of my head. Does that make sense? I’m also the first to admit that my grammar is horrific. And even as I type that sentence, I’m refusing the urge to research if that’s the correct form of the word horror to use.**

Because of these roadblocks I create for myself, my routine is to draft a post and never publish it, for fear of it sounding unintelligent on multiple levels. Truth be told, I have a high IQ (I was accepted into Mensa)*** and enjoy deep conversation. It’s just easier to abandon my thoughts than finish a post and click the publish button.

So there you have it. Honesty…horrific grammar and all, as well as the precise reason as to WHY I’m doing NaBloPoMo. It will give me an opportunity to hopefully break through these roadblocks. I hope you’ll join me for the ride and as a bonus, I give you permission to call me a masochist as I kick off NaBloPoMo.

*Cheers,

**I lied–I totally looked it up.

***#HumbleBrag

November usually brings a wave on anticipation for the upcoming season, but for some reason, it’s hard for me to believe it’s really November. The warmth of the California sun, and the lack of snow, is messing with my head!

Christmas is my favorite holiday. I love giving gifts, sitting in the glow of the lights on the Christmas Tree before bed, the Red Cups from Starbucks, scarfs, singing along to “Christmas Wrapping” and every song on The Carpenters Christmas Portrait album, and the chill of the weather. Oh…and of course the snowfall, whether I’m watching from inside as the snow blankets the ground or outside making snow angels. All of it…I love all of it!

Last year was my first Winter in California and sad to say, I never got into the Christmas spirit. I didn’t even put up a tree because by the time I got around to it, I was leaving soon after to go to Michigan for the holidays and didn’t want to deal with taking it down when I got back. I blame all of my Scrooge Symptoms on the California weather. Funny I say this as the last winter I had in Madison, WI before moving to CA had a total snowfall of over 100″, setting a new record for the city. I was ready to never see snow again, or at least I thought I was.

It doesn’t feel like the holidays. Where I used to go into seasonal depression in Wisconsin due to the short hours of sunlight and not being able to enjoy being outside because of the below freezing temperatures, now I think I have seasonal depression because there ISN’T snow and cold.

I am now listening to Christmas music and have scheduled time on my calendar for trimming the tree, the day after Thanksgiving, which has always been the tradition for me. I also just sent my first email for collaboration on an amazing Christmas present for someone. Bring on the spirit!

Help me out…what gets you into the spirit of the holiday you celebrate? I’m open to trying just about anything to not lose another year to the Bah Humbugs!

To help you get in the spirit, here’s a light spectacular to “Christmas Wrapping”. (Who has time to create these things???!?!) Enjoy!

One thing I love about living in San Francisco is that I get to host friends at my place who are coming for a visit. Like right now, @emmapersky is on Holiday from the UK and is making a trek through North America over the next week or so. As we were making arrangements around her arrival, I said something like “You can definitely do your work at my place while I’m at the office.” She laughed and told me that she was Holiday, which meant no work.

What?? No work? What does that even mean?

Then we talked about the cultural differences around the idea of Holiday/Vacation time between the UK and U.S. I know that over the summer, there is a very good possibility that if I’m working with people in the UK, they will be unavailable for a few weeks as they will be on holiday. I know this, accept it and respect it.

However, I can’t even remember the last time I took a ‘vacation’ or wasn’t checking/responding to emails for more than 48 hours. The idea seems completely foreign to me. But what is even more foreign is WHY I haven’t taken the time to make this a priority for myself. Is it the workaholic in me? Is it the need to feel busy doing something? Is it the pile of work that never seems to be finished?

So often I feel like I have ADHD, which I jokingly refer to as my multi-tasking super power. But I wonder what would happen if I fully unplugged for a few days…no computer…no cell…and, brace yourselves, no social media. Would the world that I know and love come to a screeching halt? Would I die?

Actually, I think the opposite would actually happen.

I think I would become more aware of the awesomeness that surrounds me on a day-to-day basis that I ignore due to the Blackberry in my hand. I think allowing my brain to slow down will actually help me become more productive as I could focus on the tasks that are truly a priority for my work as well as my personal life.

I don’t think I’m the only one who has this theory. I wonder how many companies share the same thoughts on this and really encourage their employees to take time off. Wouldn’t the world be a much happier place if we took more time off?

Wish I could think about this more…but I have a document that’s due in the morning that I need to finish.