All lives can’t matter until black lives matter. (2025)

How not doing NaNoWriMo changed my life

November is “National Novel Writing Month”, a.k.a. “NaNoWriMo”. Essentially it is a challenge to write a 50,000 word complete draft of a novel within the month of November.

For some insane reason during October I thought “yeah… I’m going to do NaNoWriMo this year”.

The Reality Check

“Insane” might seem pejorative, but it fits. I don’t have an interest in writing fiction. I barely have an interest in reading fiction. When I go to Silent Book Club I’m the only one there with non-fiction. But I really like time-limited activity stunts, and I thought I could easily find the time if I cut out some of the baloney I normally do.

The Pivot

Well, as the title says, I didn’t end up doing it. I started the planning in October and quickly abandoned it. But it got me thinking. 50,000 words, 30 days… that’s about 1,667 words a day. I’d probably need to spend at least an hour on it, every day for a month. Well, if I can find the time for NaNoWriMo — and I’m not actually doing NaNoWriMo — what else could I do for an hour a day instead? Maybe something I might not normally do, or something I want to put more time into.

The Extra Hour

I remembered reading (partially) a book called Full Catastrophe Living years ago. It details a mindfulness-based stress reduction program using meditation and yoga, about 45 minutes per day. Years ago I scoffed at 45 minutes a day, but now I had an “extra” hour to spend on whatever I wanted!

The Recap

Now that we’re in December, let me tell you what I didn’t do: the actual Full Catastrophe Living program. But what I DID do was some meditation and some yoga, about 50 minutes total, every ding-dong day in November. For the meditation I just start a timer on my phone, and get right into the realizing I am not in the present moment (again! and again!). For yoga I like the Down Dog app. The combo is real simple and repeatable. Roll out the mat, first thing in the morning.

The “changed my life” in the title is a bit hyperbolic. Who knows if this will continue. Regardless, it was a wholesome stunt activity that provided real benefits.

Thanks, NaNoWriMo 😀

What would YOU do with an extra hour a day?


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Earlier Post: Time for some innuendo-filled climate tech jams? ☀️

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