Two Year Anniversary

TW: Rape

Two years ago today, I had just finished participating in a Lindy Hop workshop in the Bay Area called Le Hot Sauce and was heading to Shades to DJ and dance. I invited people I thought of as friends, old and new. We went back to a hotel to sleep after the dancing, and I woke up to violation of my body.

Rules and Regulations

I guess this goes with anyone who is trying to discipline themselves into forming new habits. You have to make some rules up for yourself to follow – and actually stick to them. Mine will be fairly simple, I think. I just need to make sure that I follow the rules. The first rule is, “Don’t talk about Fight Club.” Wait, no… that’s a different movie.

1. Write at least 15-20 minutes per day. This means, sitting down and only writing or working on blogs for at least 15 minutes a day. No, I can’t make up for lost time by doing more one day and skipping another. That’s cheating. I think by doing this, I’ll be less likely to forget that I have a blog and will consistently stick to it. Goal: writing every day, at least 25 days out of the month, 15 minutes a day. Reward for accomplishing goal: I get to buy myself something nice that I wouldn’t have otherwise spent money on (like a pedicure!).
2. No posting after midnight. I’m not a reliable source of information or decision-making after midnight, so nothing gets posted after that time. I’m like a mogwai in some respects, I suppose. Cute, allergic to sunlight… wait… does that make me a Twilight vampire? HA! No. I’m not sparkly. *whew!*
3. Write first, post later. Because everything sounds awesome when you first say it, and I have a terrible brain-to-mouth filter (brain-to-finger filter, in this case), it will be smarter overall for me to write something one day, then come back to it another day and edit before publishing. The goal here is to write something completely without editing, just to get my feelings and thoughts down, then come back and edit it. Edit: I’ve already found one typo.
4. When blogging, only blog. OOH! SHINY! This kind of stuff happens to me a lot. Also, one of the major side effects of PTSD is a lack of ability to concentrate. Since I was already bad about not fooling around on Wikipedia or Cracked.com before, it makes it even harder. If I’m going to do this, I feel like I should put a good effort into it.

So, that’s it for now. I might come back and add some more rules for myself, but for now I think this is it. I’m going to start following my rules by saving this as a draft, then coming back to look at it tomorrow. Woot! Consistency! I’m 2 for 2 so far!