I Finished Something Last Week

If the darkest hour comes just before the dawn, it feels like the sun is rising here.

I’ve delved deep enough into the darkness… for now.

It’s time to lighten things up for a while.

It’s time to explore some hope.

Dear Reader,

This week feels different. For many weeks now I’ve felt the end of ‘something’ approaching.

Last week it arrived.

By baring my soul on these ‘pages’ I’ve documented my healing journey in a special way, but the real value is not found in a few articles. The value is the story of hope woven through the fabric of 125,000+ words — written through the thick of the biggest battle of my life.

Before circling back or writing much about anything else, it felt important to finish pouring the foundation of From War to Writing… whatever that was going to mean.

Last week, I completed that work.

I’m not sure yet precisely what is next, but it seems we’re entering a new phase here.

In part, we will revisit the road from war to writing. We will wade back in and pluck the gems and find valuable insight… but this time we know the destination… and have a map and a framework.

Knowing where the road leads may help us find hope in ways hidden from us the first time around.

The Foundation is Poured

Something came together last week… but it took me a bit to figure out what it was.

I finished pouring the foundation of my work.

After completing our series on boundaries around time, energy, and identity, it feels like the final piece of this part of the puzzle is now in place.

True: there is no book published ... not even an entry level e-book to officially get started in the business world of things here. And I’m certainly not done telling my story… not all of the important parts…

But the big pieces of this part of my journey are now in place.

Until last week, my work felt unfinished and undefined. There is still much more work to be done on both fronts…

… but the foundation is complete.

Worth Tied to Productivity

There is one odd lesson I’ve learned along my healing journey I haven’t written about yet. It’s time I try to apply it to my writing here.

Though I didn’t realize it until quite recently, I’ve spent most of my life burdened with the deeply ingrained notion that my self-worth is somehow tied directly to my productivity and meeting perceived performance expectations set by others. While there’s a measure of truth to that in a work environment, in real life that’s simply not true.

Unlearning that is a particularly difficult lesson to internalize.

Without knowing it specifically, I honored that lesson with my work here when I said a sustainable pace was of vital importance… and set my schedule at one post each week.

But there’s a little more to it than that.

Internally, I need to give myself a little less pressure, and a little more grace.

One thing that means is that I need to spend some time focusing on slightly less cognitively demanding topics.

Plus… a little time and mental distance might be good before diving back into the deep waters for the next phase.

I’m not sure what that’s going to look like either, but I know I need to give myself a bit of a mental rest with my topic selection for a few weeks. :)

What’s Next?

I kinda feel I should focus on hope for a while.
I’m not sure what that will look like.

I need to practice lightening it up a bit.

I need to write to write, not to understand or to be understood, not to help or heal, not to figure something out... but to have a little fun. To write because I enjoy it, as entertainment, not only for education or understanding.

I need to spread my wings a little before digging back into the next season of deep focus here.

That may look like a few articles on random topics for the next few weeks. It may look like shorter articles for a while. Maybe both. I’m not sure yet. :)

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I see my writing as art… as a craft, not a profession… a creative expression, not a business plan.

Publishing a book may alter that relationship a bit. That process will likely add another dimension to my work here I’m not quite ready to explore. That may be over the horizon, but it’s not around the corner, yet.

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So, what is next?

• Keep publishing every Saturday. My promise from my first missive in November 2024 didn’t have an end date. It continues until further notice.

• Lighten up a little bit. “Hope” may not be the catch phrase for each new article, but themes should start to feel lighter.

• Begin the early stages of working toward publishing a book. When that starts in earnest, I have a feeling you’ll be invited to observe and likely influence the process.

We’ll continue our journey along the road From War to Writing… but a slight recalibration is in order.

Bottom line: Before starting the next phase of building, I need to let my foundation settle.

Wrap

Though written and quoted many ways, there’s a sentiment out there that feels appropriate today:

“The darkest hour comes just before the dawn.”

It feels like the sun is rising here.

The road from War to Writing is about hope and healing. That was often difficult to see the first time along the path. When we travel the road again, I expect we’ll find both hiding in surprising places.

Whatever’s next, that’s what I think I’ll be looking for.

Thanks for looking with me.

Until next Saturday, I wish you a pleasant week.

Yours, from war to writing,

- Terry 8^)

This article was written 100% ‘by hand’ with zero AI assistance. AI was used to generate the cover image. My AI Policy, Perspective, and Practice