TannieSpace

geekery, drawing and then some

Posts about no

Review: The War of the Worlds

The War of the WorldsThe War of the Worlds by [H.G. Wells](http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/880695.thumbnail.jpg "The War of the Worlds The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells") My rating: ★★★★☆

Even though the story takes place in the 1890s and the language sometimes seemed outdated, I had no problem getting into it and it didn't read as a very outdated story. Sure, nobody had cellphones and cars, but the cellphones would have stopped working soon anyway when the Martians take down the power lines. (because they would, of course) I liked the analytical descriptions the main character made and how he still didn't come across as a cold hard scientist. He did care deeply for his wife and most of the book actually deals with him trying to get back to her, as he promised (without getting killed, so it takes him a while).

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Little books

Filled up IBC003 and started IBC004

I have filled up three little books with my Inkblobs. The fourth has the writing on the outside and no drawings yet.

I think I'll fill it up pretty soon and then on to the fifth. And a sixth, and probably a seventh and so on.

Clearing out my bookshelves, just in case I have lots of them next year. One has to prepare for these things :)


The no-experiment

I've not felt well lately, very tired and stressed. Part of this comes from having a lot of appointments scheduled. A big part of it however comes from wanting to do to much. I don't want to do extraordinary stuff -- although for my condition it would qualify as such. I want to do stuff other people consider normal.

  • Walk the dog for an extra long time.
  • Buying groceries.
  • Hanging out with friends.
  • Visit family.
  • Go to the movies.
  • Randomly hop into the car with TG and go for a nice beach-walk.

All of these things require planning on my side, which also sucks up precious energy.

A couple of days ago I read Michael Nobbs' new book Sustainable Creativity in which he discusses the importance of learning how to say 'no'. For some areas I know when to say 'no': I can easily say it when I don't want to do something, or I don't have the time, or I have other plans. But at those times when I don't have plans yet, I really want to do it and think I have the energy, I won't say no. And this backfires. I rarely do have that much energy, and end up canceling many things. This does not make me happy.

Tonight I watched the movie 'Yes-man' and it gave me an idea. What if I say 'no' instead? I have things planned (and one not-yet-planned-but-sorta) and won't _pre_cancel them. I will not make new plans however, excluding the ones where I go to the hospital (or other medical stuff) or where people come to my house (less tiring).

This may sound a little drastic, but I gave it some thought and it seems like a cool experiment. Worst case, I'll feel bad the day after for saying 'no' and then I'll have learned I said 'no' to something that matters to me. In a way, this will force me to re-evaluate things that matter to me most, and these may or may not include the things I think matter the most.

It will also, hopefully, give me some practice in saying 'no' when I do think I have lots of energy (but actually don't and I end up wasting all of my reserves).

I have no idea about how long I want to do this, considering a month or perhaps until New Year