In-between Times
I seem to spend much of my life in between this or that, frustrated that I need to make moment-by-moment decisions without sufficient information. For many years this resulted from a nomadic lifestyle, making it hard for me to know how deep to dig into my context, always with an eye to some catastrophic fail of a visa renewal, or an approaching guerrilla war.
It’s neurosis-building.
To help with the constant (or only threatening) disruption, I decided to pretend I lived in a yurt—hoping to give myself a mental framework for settling in versus being ready to go at a moment’s notice. It helped somewhat, but has never quite put an end to the longing to get stuck in to somewhere, or something.
This is mere hangnails compared to the uncertainty much of the world lives with, I know. And yet, I still must navigate it—and myself.
Right now, there are several pending factors that might directly affect my time and brain commitment (possible day job/possible move to another state), but these big items are largely out of my hands just now. So, I have to choose where to focus without knowing when I might have to drop everything for a major pivot.
Meanwhile, after decades with one overwhelming project, the manuscript for Farewell, O Syria is done. It’s had all I intend to give it. But I’m now stuck waiting. It is scheduled for copyediting in early January and not due back until early March (long book = lots of words to review). It has moved to a back burner for me. And that feels strange.
And so, I’m chipping away at all the learning and doing that still needs to happen in order to push the publish button sometime in 2026—website copy, marketing copy, etc., etc. But this all feels very piecemeal. I’m craving that sense of One Big Driving Project.
I decided to take a look at Mom’s closest-to-publishing-ready manuscript. It needed final hand edits typed into the digital file and chapters broken up. I thought I’d take a few weeks to get that important hurdle behind me. It took two days.
So back again, needing to decide how best to spend this strange phase. I’ve had all the time management training ever produced since the 1960s (my dad was a middle-management guy), but do I go back to loading in the big rocks first and let the piecemeal stuff get done when it becomes urgent? Or do I focus and consolidate, getting every weeny thing ready for Farewell before moving on to the Next Big Thing—at the risk of scattering my brain and/or having the rug pulled by a Big Event?
Welp, I’ve decided: I’m going to start on Book II. Let the other stuff fit in the cracks. I think I’ll be more productive if primarily focused on the Big One and let the other stuff get done when it flares up.
The good news is: Book II has 20,000 words written in 2020, ready to go. The plot is roughed into the historical context, and much of the decades of research for Farewell will get me halfway there.
First task: Read through the old manuscript and note any needed additional research and pending story questions.
Then go from there.
Whew. The decision is half the battle!
— Lausanne
A Yurt! Reminds me a bit of Thoreau. Best of luck with Farewell O Syria. I look forward to reading it. And now on to Book II. Sounds like you are off to a good start already.
"I decided to pretend I lived in a yurt"
Fantastic! I decided to embrace the same feeling at a certain time of my life, literally and in the metaphysical way. It opened me unthinkable spaces. Good luck, my dear!