This last week has been full of challenges in my day job. But the constant stress of my day job was compounded this week by a close friend’s struggle with the loss of a member of his extended family. That event caused a lot of added stress to his life, and made me thankful I only have the stress I deal with. For the most part, I’ve found ways to manage my stress through my writing.
I generally begin my weeks on Monday mornings, dreading my day job and the responsibilities it brings. While I enjoy the work, the pressures to get tasks done can be overwhelming. Most of them are ongoing and will continue for as long as I work at my day job. Before going to work each morning, and on Monday mornings especially, I set goals for my writing and plan for ways I can step away from work if needed. I’ve found that putting a little distance between me and my stressors, whether email, paperwork on my desk, or others, for a moment, helps me even things out. See, that is the result of working on my goal of managing my reactions to stress. I’m doing better, if only by little bits, but any progress is progress
One of the biggest helpers for me is writing stories. I’m not the kind to turn people I know into characters in my books. But I do pay attention to how people react. I watch others interactions. On stressful days, sitting on my lunch break and writing helps me step away from my stress, recharge, and come back after lunch with renewed energy.
So, even if I never meet my goal of being a full time author, completely, my writing helps me be calmer. Life is not easy, sometimes. Depending on what is going on around us, it can be very hard. But there is always good happening, even in the challenges. Sometimes, I have to set goals of finding it, and actively look for it, before I see it.
For example, my close friend talked about a neighbor he barely knows who brought over a plate of cookies when they found out he had lost a member of his extended family. Or each morning, as I drive to work past a housing area for seniors, I’ve seen an older man sitting on his walker near the corner. He waves at every person driving by, with a huge smile on his face like he is thankful to be alive. I’m sure his life is not easy, but his smile and wave brighten my day.
I kind of rambled this week, but that’s okay. Keep setting goals, working through challenges, and overcoming stress. Those are my long term goals.
In my next book, Dissonance, out as a preorder on Amazon Kindle until September 3, time travel is tearing the world apart, and only those that sense the resonance can feel the changes. It is a sequel to Resonance, which has surprised me with how many pages are read on Amazon Kindle Unlimited.
Check out some of my other books, which are available on Amazon Kindle and paperback.
My most recent book, an epic fantasy titled, A Map, a Mage, and a Sacrifice, was a fun book to write. I just recently lowered the price of the ebook. It is set in a world with limited technology, but where sacrifice is a necessary element to magical power. The greater the pain and suffering, the greater the magical power generated. The few mages in power use voluntary sacrifice of the citizens to generate power they use to protect and defend the empire. But their rule may be coming to a close.
If you’re looking for a science fiction story, try my book The Promise of Dust, which takes place in a cloud city floating in the atmosphere of Venus. Or Progenitor’s Legacy: Deceit, which takes place many years in the future on a world that orbits a red dwarf and has been reached by humanity in their search for the alien progenitors who seeded the galaxy with nano machines.
If a young adult science fiction is more to your liking, check out my series This New Earth, that starts with Demons of a Dead World and Secrets of a Dead World.
If you are looking for a young adult fantasy, check out my book The Threads Unbound.
DANIEL R. BURKHARD 