From Mary’s post “Discipline? What’s that?”:

I’m really very bad at following through with things.  I have lots of big ideas about all sorts of things, but most of them never make it past the idea stage.  Even some things that do, I don’t finish.

It’s not a trait I particularly like about myself.  It’s just not very nice to think about all the things I want to do, and remember all the things I haven’t done.  [...]  I sometimes half wonder if I have a very mild form of ADD that, because I can function in society without any external assistance, isn’t really a disorder.  Because the reason I don’t end up following through on ideas is that I just have so many of them, and the one I’m currently working on is always the least interesting of them all.

And the other part of the problem is that I just have so many interests.  It’s not exactly true that I’m interested in everything, but it’s not actually as much of an exaggeration as it might seem.  Still, there are only so many waking hours in each day, and I have to devote a whole lot of them to working.  I’d probably have more time to devote to useful pursuits if I didn’t genuinely enjoy goofing off, too.

That is exactly what I struggle with as well. And I don’t have the solution for myself yet, but believe me, I’m trying to find it. Because it’s embarrassing to go back to my alma mater 2 years after graduating and have no real answer to the question, “How’s the writing?”

(That said, I am SO glad I went to Carnegie Mellon’s Commencement this weekend! I had a great time with my family, and I got to meet up with several friends. As a former Resident Assistant, seeing my first group of residents graduating gave me a staggering mix of pride and excitement. They are amazing people, and I can’t wait to see what they accomplish!)

Girl At Play has more great advice in her post “Living well is more than organic fruit.”

Please go out there and do. Live. Don’t be the same as yesterday. Don’t live vicariously online. Don’t use language that has no meaning or talk ideas you don’t really live. Don’t hide. Don’t copy others or live their ideas or life. Don’t fear doing your thing. Don’t fear doing. Instead of reading a decorating magazine, paint that room. Instead of thinking of baking, do up a cake. Run, walk, bike. Put that self help book down and pick up yourself.

The whole thing is really motivating, but I didn’t want to just straight up copy & paste it here. Instead I’m trying to live it. I’ve reinstated my No Internet Till Noon rule, adding in Daily To Do Lists, and am finding success so far. I am DOING instead of just blogging about wanting to do. Imagine that!

For any writers out there, I also highly recommend “Typing Without a Clue,” an op-ed by Timothy Egan. (Thanks, Mary, for sending it to me!)

Most of the writers I know work every day, in obscurity and close to poverty, trying to say one thing well and true. Day in, day out, they labor to find their voice, to learn their trade, to understand nuance and pace. And then, facing a sea of rejections, they hear about something like Barbara Bush’s dog getting a book deal.

FOR REALZ. Anyway, sometimes it’s just nice to hear from someone on our side. Especially when that someone is funny.

When I was younger, I used to wonder what my life would be like when I reached certain ages… I’m not sure I made it past about 20… But what I probably would have imagined, back in the day, is that I’d have some kind of career I was totally in love with, for one.

This is actually from my friend Mary’s most recent LJ post, but it sounds like something straight out of my own diary. As I child I dreamt about high school and especially college, but somehow my imagination never really got past that time frame. I’m not sure why. I am sure, however, that not having a good idea of what should or could or might come next had me terrified.

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