Changes Ahead

Nov 4, 2019 | All Entries, On Publishing |

In January, 2019, we realized that our house had old termite damage that wasn’t disclosed, an active termite infestation, and a lot of water entering the house and causing damage. This significantly impacted the home renovation timeline, and I put a lot of my personal goals on hold.

I certainly accomplished a lot in the bulk of 2019, including recovering from elbow surgery, building a 550 square foot stone patio; building a custom, glass and oak banister; replacing damaged siding and millwork; repairing the house’s rim joist and reinforcing floor joists; installing three support beams in the crawlspace; and designing (and currently building) a front porch portico. I also wrote a novel, and during the renovation, I lost about 25 pounds.

It sounds like I did tons, and I did, but I want to do more creative and publishing work. Also, now that I’m in shape again and most major home renovations are approaching completion, I want to return to practicing Kung Fu: something that was extremely beneficial to me in the past.

While 2019 isn’t over yet, I am ready for the current phase I find myself in to come to an end. I still have some construction projects to finish, but after this week, I believe the big ones will be done and smaller ones can be addressed ad hock. I can’t describe my current goals as 2020 goals, because I’m going to start working on them now, so instead I’ll call them my goals for levelling up. And what level is in my sights? Kung Fu Bard.

When I started training in Kung Fu (Northern Shaolin Kung Fu Wu Su), I was taught that Kung Fu actually meant ‘disciplined technique.’ I plan to apply disciplined technique to my creative life–and also practice Kung Fu in Wu Su (fighting arts).

My Kung Fu Bard goals:

  • Write 3-5 erotic romance novels, record the audio versions, and publish the lot (1 book has been written).
  • Build strength, endurance, flexibility, and work back up to my proficiency levels in martial arts.
  • Complete a series of board games based on expanding human presence beyond Earth in our Solar System.

If When I accomplish those things, I’ll have done a significant amount of work for my writing career, reagained a level of fitness and personal mastery I only breifly attained…over a decade ago, will have explored a new challenging area creatively. I’m hoping that while on this journey, I’ll also meet many people and forge new friendships; which is a larger goal in itself, but is nonetheless separate from my Kung Fu Bard goals.

So, that’s the plan. I will now be walking the path of the Kung Fu Bard.