Why Can One Innocent Fleeting Little Thought Stop Us Cold?

I’ve always resisted deadlines and I’ll flat-out ignore one if I think it’s unreasonable. And, I’m not going to feel bad, or beat myself up over it either. It’s how I’m wired. I’m not sure I know anyone who loves a good deadline anyway. Do you?

Besides, deadlines can feel all go, go, go… more, more, more… and now, now, now. Pressure for pressure’s sake.

Okay, that’s not entirely true… and I expect some resistance. Some deadlines really do matter.

The idea is to make sure what we say matters, well… actually matters.

So, after missing last week’s post due to an unexpected internet outage while traveling (lame excuse), I’m feeling the pressure of my fast approaching “usual” posting time. Because to me, that one matters. I’m determined to get this week’s post out in good order. For the record, that’s now officially at risk.

Last week, we were staying in an Airbnb “casita” on a property some miles north of Santa Fe. They normally have connectivity, even broadband. But let’s say the service can be intermittent at times…

Like the particular time we were staying there.

The innkeeper’s brother, Drake put it like this… “The internet is a lot like a daytime soap opera. You can be away for a while and when you come back you’ll find that you haven’t missed anything.”

He wasn’t blowing us off… he really wanted to get their network back up and running for us. That was not meant to be.

He acknowledged that even though we were understanding, he likes to make sure people have what they’ve come to expect.

That may be the message here. We don’t always get what we expect. We don’t always get what we want. But we do get to choose how we respond.

Now, with lingering feelings of guilt over missing last week’s post, combined with this fleeting thought… “What if I can’t think of what I should write about?” Suddenly, I feel like I’m in a tail spin, but in slow motion. One where I can anticipate the crash.

Today, the muses aren’t talking. Nothing feels right. In the scheme of things, it’s a small problem.

I know it’s self-induced, but that doesn’t fix anything. That doesn’t make it easier.

Here’s how the process usually goes…

I’m an Evernote junkie. It’s my go-to app and has become my personal database. It’s where I keep all my ideas, at least those I’ve captured in written form. It’s a great tool for that and a gazillion other things. I highly recommend it. (Maybe someday they’ll ask me for an endorsement?)

I scan and scroll to see what catches my eye, what speaks to me.

I just checked, and I have 141 “notes” that will eventually become finished posts for LifeUntucked. Not all will become individual posts, some will be combined into single posts. They range from simple ideas that are only a phrase or two long, to nearly completed full-length articles.

One would think in all the one-hundred and forty-one notes there would be one that wants to come out today.

Crazy, isn’t it?

Many times, something strikes me during the week and it’s “A-ha, there’s my post!” I even have a vague memory of thinking, “That’s it, that’s my post! Don’t have to worry about that now.” It’s a lesson I keep learning… write it down or it’s as good as gone.

That thought, whatever it was, must have decided to stay in New Mexico.

Being the 5^th largest state and the 6^th least populated, there’s little chance of ever finding it again.

So, lacking that inspiration, I went to my “in-process” ideas in Evernote.

I scrolled through the notes. Added many new “bits” as they came to mind while I’m reading through them. That’s all they were however, bits. Not one put its hand up and waved to me screaming “I’m ready… this is my week.”

Seriously, that’s how the process has evolved. I’ll never claim to be one who works too far ahead. Although, for the previous several trips I’ve taken I’ve managed to have my post uploaded, scheduled, and ready for the magic of technology to put it out there right on time.

So why go to the foothills of Santa Fe? Well, let’s see… there’s lots of elbow room, you can see the stars at night… all of them. And there are places so quiet you can hear what nothing at all sounds like.

It’s very Untucked…

Call me out if this post sounds like an excuse. I have no place for excuses.

“What was that? Is that all I’ve got?”

Yeah, that’s pretty much it for this round…

Be Untucked, my friends.

 

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