Weekend review: My need for mindfulness

I was thinking this morning about habit and schedule, and how these two things affect life in general. For the past several days, my schedule has been thrown for a loop. I've had a lot to do, some of it under deadline pressure, and I've handled it all relatively well -- but not as well as I would like.

It all began last week, when I started working on three projects simultaneously. These were: 1) an interview with Chance Shirley, director of the film "Interplanetary" which showed Sunday at the Sidewalk film festival; 2) the layout and design of the October issue of Magic City Blues News; and 3) the latest episode of my ongoing online serial story, Committed. I wanted to get both Chance's interview and the episode posted on my website by Friday, which would give me the weekend to work on the newsletter, which could then be at the printer on Monday.

The first part of the week went great; I stuck to my schedule, I made good progress on the episode, and I was able to get a lot of the grunt work done for the newsletter. But it started going downhill on Wednesday, when I stayed up until 2 a.m. working on the interview. There were pages and pages of notes that I transcribed from my conversations with Chance, and I was having a hard time pulling it together into a story that made sense. I woke up early on Thursday and kept at it, blowing off any kind of scheduling in favor of working on the one thing that demanded all of my attention. I ended up finishing the piece around 3 a.m. on Friday morning. I got about three hours of sleep, then got up and went to work posting the piece on my website.

Historically, I've never done well when I don't sleep, and Friday was no exception. I was a zombie most of the day (especially when I went into the Pork Palace that morning to make a delivery), and finishing the episode was out of the question. I ended up zoning out in front of the computer for most of the afternoon, and sleepwalked through my shift that night.

The weekend was no more restful. On Saturday, Jean, Juliana and I got up and headed to Georgia for a mini-family reunion. A good time (and an excellent dinner) was had by all. We got back to Homewood sometime between 9 and 10 o'clock after a three-hour drive. Dry weather on Sunday gave me an opportunity to mow the yard, and after that my friend Shawn and I went downtown to check out "Interplanetary" at Sidewalk.

(Quick aside on Sidewalk and "Interplanetary": Sunday was my first time to visit the Carver Theater, and I really enjoyed it. I was impressed with the crowd and even more impressed with how Chance's movie looked on the big screen. It would be a shame if he didn't get a good distribution deal for this movie; I think "Interplanetary" could be a serious cult classic if it gets just the right push.)

Jean and I relaxed for a bit Sunday evening, and then I got up early on Monday morning to finish up the newsletter for the Blues Society. I spent all day on it, and after a day of revisions, finally got everything uploaded to the printer last night.

Sure, a lot went on, and I busted my butt. However, the results weren't particularly stellar by my reckoning. Yes, I was pleased I got Chance's interview posted on Friday, but the piece was definitely not my best work. The newsletter didn't get to the printer as soon as I wanted, and we're still waiting for Episode 34 to make it onto arkirby.com.

I've always felt I was a seat-of-the-pants, spontaneous, fun-loving kind of fellow. And in many ways, I am. But I felt a little lost, panicked, and stressed out during the past several days, and it showed. Everything that has happened over the weekend got me... well, how to explain it... out of sorts. Ginched up a bit, as it were. Crabby, but not horribly so. Just a little bit off. I didn't really get up on the wrong side of the bed, but I set my foot down before I got up on the other side, know what I mean? Nothing particularly wrong, but I just didn't feel right.

I think I can attribute much of my unease to obvious factors: lack of sleep, deadline pressures, travel, etc., but I am almost absolutely certain that my un-right-ness comes from somewhere else; a place of mindfulness. I worked very, very hard, but without much thought or direction. I got worked up over details and lost sight of the big picture. I didn't breathe. I wasn't "in the now" in any sense. I wasn't living and working mindfully, and it put me out of sorts.

The cool thing about all this is that I can see it happening -- and I now know how to handle it. When I would encounter situations like this in the past, I'd just keep on trucking down that road, oblivious to whatever it was that I needed to do. I would work and work and do and do, with the result that nothing ever seemed to get done... until at some point, I would finally say, "Enough!" and get back to paying attention. As time passes, these instances are getting shorter and shorter, and it's easier than ever to get back into the swing of things.

So, today I am paying attention. I'm being mindful of what I do and I what I want. It feels good to be back on track.

Post-weekend update

Musings on a waterlogged Monday morning:

First things first: The rain has got to stop. This is not the Pacific Northwest, we are not in a temperate rainforest, and there is no reason for the rain to continue as it has for the past couple of weeks.

Yet still it comes down.

I'm starting to see some serious issues as a result of all the precipitation. My skin is starting to prune outside the bath, the humidity is giving me Sideshow Bob-like hair, and our lawn is turning into an urban jungle (a big no-no here in Homewood, but the yard has been too wet to cut when I've had the opportunity to mow it).

Perhaps Mother Nature is trying to make up for the drought of 2007, and do so in a single month. Or maybe Larry Langford teamed up with Kevin Costner to turn the metro area into a "Waterworld" theme park, and he just forgot to tell anybody. Or maybe Al Gore was right, and this is but one consequence of global warming; the rain won't stop, and by the end of the month Montgomery will be a coastal city.

Whatever the reason, the rain needs to stop before I go nuts. I need to ride my bike, I need to cut the grass, and I need to wring myself out before I get all Seattle-depressed and pull a Cobain.
Here are your other bits and pieces from the weekend:

• Friday was good with the posting of the latest episode of Committed. I am eager to get Episode 34 underway and up this week.
• Friday night at the Pork Palace was busy, even with Homewood playing at home (which usually means we are dead). The last hour or so was slow, so I got out early.
• Enjoyed visiting with my sister-in-law Teresa while she was here for the "Aquatic Dreams" show at Dream Mecca Studios. She, our friend Lauren, Jean and I all hung out at the house Friday night after the show. Saturday morning, Teresa, Jean and I took a trip to Pepper Place and the Jones Valley Urban Farm. I didn't know they had chickens on-site!
• Saturday evening brought a rain-delayed Auburn versus West Virginia football game. I listened on the radio, as Jean and I didn't much feel like getting out and we don't have cable. It sounded like an exciting game, for sure, with my Tigers coming out on top 41-30. War Eagle, baby!
• Sunday was lazy, for me at least. Jean worked on her yoga class, and then taught. I picked up around the house and chilled -- until dinnertime, that is. We had a veritable veggie feast, with green beans and fried okra (both organic, local, and fresh from Saturday's market trip), black beans (leftover from Friday night), basmati rice, and a green salad. Thought I was going to pop!

All in all, a great weekend and a good foundation for a new week. Here's what's on tap:

• This is the week for designing the monthly newsletter for the Magic City Blues Society. I'll be working on it a lot.
• Episode 34 of Committed should be up sometime Friday or Saturday.
• I'm also working on a profile of local filmmaker Chance Shirley, which will be up before "Interplanetary" shows on Sunday at the Carver Theatre as part of the Sidewalk fest.
• Saturday will bring a one-day trip to Georgia to visit family. Should be fun!