A quick update

I tell you what, this last week has been wild. I can't thank you all enough for all the support, advice, emails, comments, offers of glasses of wine. I've thanked and linked many of you in the post below. Let me know if I accidentally missed you out. I am sorry that I haven't finished replying personally to everyone who sent me emails, I am going to do so as soon as I can - hopefully today. This week has been a mad rush to make a deadline for a book pitch which I need to submit on Friday at the latest - I am still writing madly, and have done 12,000 words so far of the book in the last few days, plus a synopsis of the remaining chapters, I now have to get it all into a presentable form, edit and spell check it and hand it in as soon as possible. It is all very exciting but there just aren't enough hours in the day with all the admin and what have you that changing careers brings. Hopefully next week will be a bit calmer, and I can submit some ideas for features and diversify a bit.

At the moment, I get up, write from 7am- 9am, eat breakfast, shower and dress, write from 9.30-12pm, do admin, catch up with emails, write from 1pm-2pm, have lunch ( which for the last week has been a piece of toast eaten at my computer - so much for slow cooking and a chance to live a more healthy lifestyle), 2pm - 3pm, review what I have read, 3pm onwards, chores, more admin, catch up on emails, rush about sorting things that need to be sorted, evenings, have got a diaryful of previous commitments so social life continues apace. Blogging has been a bit on the back burner, especially considered think-pieces/rants on issues du jour. That will change as soon as I have met the book deadline. Then I will cross my fingers and see how many rejection slips I can take without hitting the whisky.

How all this feels? Scary, often. Fluttering feeling in my stomach. Energising. All-consuming - I have to make myself take breaks, I don't notice time passing when I write. What I am writing about is quite emotionally draining, so I notice that late afternoon I quite often hit a slump and realise that I have gone from wired to shattered. Next week I am going to have more time, I hope, and can factor exercise and healthy eating into my days, but at the moment, I am absolutely flat out, and I have to say, I am absolutely LOVING it.

I feel alive, more alive than I have done for years, and I know that I am finally doing what I really want to do. When I did the foundation year of a psychology MA a few years ago we looked at what was called congruence: which to me means the head and the heart and the actions of a person all in alignment. Congruency in life, we were told, leads to increased energy and inspiration,being true to yourself. Carl Rogers stated that the personality is like a triangle made up of the real self, the perceived self, and ideal self. According to Rogers, when there is a good fit between all three components, the person has congruence. This is a healthy state of being and helps people continue to progress toward self-actualization. Whatever, all I can say is, right now, I feel like I am flying. Long may this continue.