I don’t know what it is about this month, but in all the hubbub and bustle before the holidays, I just want to take it easy. I’m finding it tough to work on anything – word count on BotBK has been zero for three weeks, though that was partially due to having been sick. And I got a little work done on planning my oracle deck, but I haven’t started building the actual art yet.

Honestly, I’ve been feeling guilty about it for a few weeks, until I realized that it’s time to step back and refill the creative well with other pursuits. So I’ve been keeping busy with answering letters from pen pals, and this weekend we’re making our holiday cards and probably putting up our tree. And I’m not sure where the impulse came from, but I’ve been digging back into Old English translation, which has been both fun and eye-opening, discovering what I remembered and how much more I’ve forgotten over the years of not doing translations regularly. But it’s fun to make my brain do things it’s not accustomed to doing – that’s how you get new connections going, and connections are a big part of where stories come from!

So I’ve resolved to not feel guilty for the next two weeks as  I take it easy, letting my creativity build up again organically rather than forcing myself to be on constant output mode with no time for intake. In the new year, I’ll tackle BotBK and the oracle deck with fresh vigor.

What are you doing in the next few weeks?