Nothing to keep me in check

You'd think the pressure would be off, now that my project is officially over, but actually feels more intense on this first day "off." I have nothing to keep me in check, except faith in myself, if I am the secret sauce.

So can we just let Anne Lamott do the talking today?

I couldn't sleep last night so I made two slices of toast and picked up Bird by Bird, in which she has already said what I set out to say yesterday:

"Writing has so much to give, so much to teach, so many surprises. That thing you had to force yourself to do---the actual art of writing---turns out to be the best part. . . . The act of writing turns out to be its own reward." (xxvi)

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I finally started Essentialism. Um, it's amazing. It's essentially Konmari for your life (pun unintended), if you didn't already make the leap yourself. The audiobook version arrived first from my list of library holds so I'm indulging in listening to the author read it in his British accent, as if the words themselves weren't convincing enough.

He puts so well the conundrum of today's society: that we have so many options it's hard to make the right choices. And when we choose not to choose we end up with more but not better. We can have anything, but probably not everything.

I can't recommend it enough.