An Author's Home

On the 22^nd of March 2024, I reached a milestone. My Kindle app told me that I had read for 100 days in a row since December 14^th, 2023. And 21 weeks in a row since October 29^th, 2023.

Consistency is a struggle I told myself I would finally master this year. Reading consistently was one of my challenges. Never have I ever read for 100 days in a row. Or 21 weeks in a row. And yet here I am…

I also decided I’d read at least 67 books this year. Guess how far I’ve come since January 2024:

I’m truly pleased with my renewed sense of purpose. A few goals remain difficult to wrangle but I believe I’ll have made some progress by the end of June.

These include writing a minimum of 2,000 words every day, blogging consistently and submitting to competitions. These started off on the wrong foot at the beginning of the year but I’ve since made some progress. Except with submitting to competitions. I completely forgot about that one and then woke up one morning in March furious with myself. I am yet to even identify which competitions to submit to. Can you believe that? Deadlines must be flying past as we speak?

It must be because I don’t really like competitions. I lost my knack for them when I finally left school. But writing competitions could really push me to improve my craft so they might be a good idea.

I thought I’d take this time to celebrate what I’ve been doing right. I rarely do and that hasn’t helped much in the past.

Don’t forget to do the same for yourself every time you get the opportunity. It helps to acknowledge that you are doing your bit to achieve what you want to in life. It gives you confidence that whatever forces that be will surely do the rest.

Besides, we are usually experts at beating ourselves up. Might as well get good at buttering ourselves up too.

I hope your year is going well and that there have been some pleasant surprises so far. If not, well it’s a win that you’re alive and healthy enough to be reading this, isn’t it?

I also hope you remember to share any enthusiasm that you have with the world, as well as any talent you possess. We all need that in these times.

Please remember to eat your favourite food, spend time with your favourite animal, take walks in nature, have a quiet moment to yourself or anything at all that gives you peace and happiness. And please remember to learn the things you’ve always wanted to learn, and to make a home for them in your life if you are thus inclined.

Take good care.

-T.N.