The first completion was Gen Con in August. That was a huge and complex project that lived in my brain for nine months. The completion of Gen Con was followed by the completion of Worldcon, Writing Excuses Recording, and sending Structuring Life to Support Creativity off to print. Each thing concluded gave me space to complete something else, rather like a debt consolidation plan where paying off one debt frees up funds to pay off the next debt faster.
One lingering project that I finally concluded last week was my collected book of blog and journal entries for 2024. While putting the finishing touches on it, I re-discovered the priorities I set myself at the beginning of 2025. I’d forgotten them.
- Entrench
- Grow
- Complete
I say I forgot them because I had forgotten those specific words and I never used them to bring myself back to task, but as I’m looking at the past three fourths of a year, those words are completely accurate to how I spent my time. Especially “complete.” 2025 has been a year of completion. And I’m not done yet. I’ve completed so many things this year and I can feel the acceleration in completion.
- This week I’ll complete the shipping for Mandatory Failure
- The week after I’ll complete the warehouse reorganization.
- By December I’ll be delivering Structuring Life to Support Creativity in all formats.
With the acceleration, I discover that I don’t want to fill up the space in my life with grand new projects. I want quite projects and a sustainable creative life. I have begun an effort to build up my Patreon, but that doesn’t feel grand and new, it feels like continuing an effort I’ve long delayed. I am deliberately choosing deliverables that help me create the life I want to be living rather than projects that represent a big stretch for me.
Completion opens up space. In that space I get to choose what comes next. I am trying to choose my “next” based on hope instead of fear. I am also making sure I pause long enough to enjoy this moment in my life when I am happily working and completing things instead of being buried in an avalanche of urgent responsibility. I hope I get to just quietly continue. At least through the end of the year.
