I still have a long way to go, however. I'm currently reading and indexing journal number 85, which is taking a very long time because it's over 300 pages! I think it's probably the longest journal I own. I still have 190 journals to go, so lots more to say! But this month has gotten me off to a very good start!
I created the journal page above about a year ago when I was taking the art journal class with Lisa Sonora Beam. The cool thing is: It has been the best year ever! (Just as I predicted!) I had no way of knowing when I created that page just how perfect this year would be! I finally officially started the book I have been talking about all my life, and I met Storm, the love of my life! When I told him I reached over 30,000 words yesterday, he gave me a big, excited, sincere hug. It's such a gift to have such a supportive partner who always gives me my space when I need to write and celebrates my little daily successes. And, of course, he is also miraculously helping my dream come true to be in Hawaii for my 50th birthday. I can't believe that I will be there in less than 2 weeks!
The gifts I have gained from nano will stick with me and support me long beyond this month...Mainly: I intend to continue on with my 1000 word per day average, (which equals about a page per day.) And I intend to keep on writing my daily word count on my calendar to inspire me to keep going, even though I don't have a word count in mind for the final product. My main goal is to glean all I can from each journal. Since I have so many journals, I will have a very large word count in the end. But I know a lot of it will be cut and edited, and that's a stage I will deal with when the time comes. I don't have any specific deadline in mind either. Reading through these old journals is like taking a time travel machine into my past. There's a lot of darkness to slog through, and sometimes I get a bit lost. What I have noticed more than anything from this experience of reading old journals is that I have a tremendous amount of compassion for the younger me and all that I have survived in this life. That compassion overflows to others, and also to the me I am today. I know that we are all doing the best we can in any situation. I am witnessing the birth of my own wisdom as I read each journal, and it's pretty cool!
I probably won't continue with the daily blog posts, but I do intend to blog more frequently than I had been. I would like to check in about once a week with the latest word count, etc. Thank you for caring enough to stop by.