The Daily Round: Renewal

Everyone is busy, these days.  "How are you?"  "Oh, my Gosh!  I'm so busy.  I have..."  The litany seems endless.  Work, kids, money troubles, the economy, politics and voting, reading, writing, blogging, promo...  We certainly do not lack for things with which to fill up our days.

Is this sustainable?

Many religious traditions maintain that there is a day of rest once a week, where even the Creator took it easy.  What a slacker!  Or, maybe, what a smart thing to do...  Renewal is an underrated task, after all.  We don't "feel" as productive when we focus on it, we prefer to skip lunch and stay late, working around the clock and burning the midnight oil.  That, after all, is what gets the job done.

But what if, this year, we try something different?  What if, once a week, we stop?  Turn off all the geegaws of modern technology, banish the television (or at least commercials - the mute button is a thing of beauty, as is the DVR), and really rest.  Just one day a week.  What might happen then?

Try it, and find out.  After all, what do we have to lose?  Our stress?

What's so good about all that stress, anyway?

This Week In Promo

Here's a quick update on what I've been up to, blog-wise, this week:

Nine Naughty Novelists invited Rachel and I to guest post this week, and I wrote about promotion and how to get started without becoming overwhelmed.

Today I was over at Silken Sheets and Seduction for my regular bimonthly post (I post on the first and third Saturdays there). Since it's my husband's birthday this week, and we're going away for this weekend once he gets up and around, I decided to share some of my thoughts about mini-vacation planning. It's my opinion that mini-vacations are necessary parts of serenity, and don't necessarily need to cost money. It's all in how we think about it. "5 Tips for Planning a Mini-Vacation."

Enjoy!