A busy month and a time for reflection
It's been a busy month and I've had a few accomplishments that I feel is worthy of being highlighted, and some reflection that goes along with it.
Most relevant to the site... I've actually put out more than one blog a month!
But there's more...
I'm a published author!
While "Under The Full And Crescent Moon" is nine months away, my proudly nerdy side project "OriginPath" is out already. It's a game supplement called OriginPath for the Pathfinder 2nd edition role playing game.
This is a pretty major accomplishment for me and I feel it's also an opportunity for reflection on why I don't feel like it is.
There is a lot of work that goes into having an idea like this and then going through all the steps needed to bring it to life. Writing it was itself a huge endeavour, but then after that there was finding an excellent publisher, and then working with them to do the layout and launching it. I should feel satisfied by it, but I don't.
And that I think is because there's always something more. I'm putting in quite a lot of effort into making videos to market it, and posting about it. And then being plagued with doubt on if I've done a good job with any of it and if my attempts to get the word out could have been more focused and effective.
Then there's the sinking realization that material success such as sales and attention usually does not come from one published work, but instead from a persistent stream of similar publications that slowly build up a reputation. Was all of my effort worth it if I'm not going to commit to the immense ongoing effort of writing a whole series of these and marketing them?
The healthier realization that I think I am struggling towards is that nothing every really ends and I need to be able to step back at some point, pat myself on the back, and move on to all the other things that I wish to do. The fact is there is an unlimited amount of time and effort that I could put into any one project or series of projects to make them better. Another fact is that I physically cannot do this, and it is emotionally unhealthy to feel like I should. Priorities are priorities in the end.
I would be very surprised if the emotions I am going through right now with OriginPath are not echoed, with far greater intensity, with "Under The Full And Crescent Moon" which has taken for more effort and taken far longer to bring to fruition. Perhaps putting these thoughts out onto digital paper will help prepare me for what's coming and to remind myself to be kind to myself. Inshallah that will be true. And Alhamdulliah for all that I have already been able to do.
Blog Posts including a REVIEW!
As I said at the start, I am pretty proud of actually putting out more than one blog post a month. One of these was a quick follow-up to the idea blog I posted on the 23rd of November.
Here's the first post on ideas
And the follow-up on being inspired
An interesting challenge I ran into when promoting the blogpost on various social media (as I've decided that's also something I should be doing and not be satisfied with just blogging), was that I could not justify linking the whole blog post for my follow-up. So I satisfied myself with just posting the summary of the blog's idea to social media. Even that takes a long time as every site has their own character limits and I end up rewriting constantly. It's a good lesson that I cannot follow the same formula for every one of my media posts.
Oh and I added LinkedIn to the social media mix as well based on advice from a very good friend of mine who is a LinkedIn master. It's more work per post which I worry will push me closer to burnout, but I really hope not.
But more than that, what I am proud of is my very first book review.
It's not a book I would have picked, but I was challenged to read a pro-Israeli work and this was what was recommended. As I say in the review, the book's arguments are built on incredibly bigoted assumptions about Arabs, and Palestinians in particular. Anyone who shares those assumptions will nod along, and anyone who does not will be incensed. There is nothing of value here other than understanding a form of Zionism that is built on the delusion of an Israel that just wants peace and is thwarted by dastardly Arabs at all turns, and not the increasingly obvious one that wants as much Palestinian land as possible with as few Palestinians on it as possible. Whether the reason is 'security' or rampant nationalism or religious fanaticism makes no difference.
Oh and I got suspended from Substack
As a part of just trying to do what I can for visibility I started Medium and Substack blogs with the idea of writing summaries that would link to this site to take advantage of some of that Web 2.0 access to an already existing community.
Well Substack didn't like it and, very politely, suspended me. So I responded by, very politely, deleting my account.
It makes sense that they doesn't want their platform to be full of links to areas outside of their control. And I think it's good for me to have two less sites to post on. So it was a good little experiment and I don't mind that it has ended.
Final reflection
It's time for a bit of a break. The end of the year is only a week away and taking ten days off or so and then regrouping in the new year is a good idea I think. I know myself well enough to know that it won't be a complete shutdown, but I hope that I'll be able to not stress about not getting things done on time. Right after I get this blog posted and the newsletter out of course!
In the end I can only say Alhamdullilah for the lessons of the last year, and Inshallah the next year will see, far more important than anything else, a Free Palestine.