One of the few things in my life that I treat in an absolute manner are my rules. Gibbs from the TV show NCIS was the original idea behind my writing down of life rules. Indeed, I have shamelessly stolen some of his rules. It is key to clarify that these are not rules I would ever dream of applying to others. These are created by myself (and Gibbs) and apply to myself alone.

Time in between times. The period between Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve is an odd one. Business hours return to normal, but people don’t. It is a time filled with sleep and food, a time of quiet. Of contemplation. I keep drafting stories but never quite getting them to a place where I’m happy to hit publish. Even though I know each piece will never be perfect, I keep re-editing them.

I’m drafting this with an actual pen and paper in a borrowed notebook. Because my phone died on the Underground. An excercise in poor planning, typical of me. It’s a wonder I’ve made it this far with my writing streak, to be honest! Now, to today’s actual topic… As I’ve mentioned in Scribblings past, I’m a little bit of a Norse obsessive. I wear a Mjolnir pendant almost 24/7, I want to learn Icelandic despite the fact I suck at languages and Vikings is maybe my favourite TV show ever*.

Forge your own path. You are unique, you are powerful. Use fear as a guide when you burn your path. If you are afraid, if you are uncertain — it means you’re doing something right. If you are uncertain of a decision, it means that you care enough about the outcome. Use fear as a guide, but don’t let it consume and paralyse you. Don’t let it stop you from living.

Allow me, if you will, to teach you a anecdotal lesson. That you probably already know. But don’t like to know that you know. I’m riding home on a dual carriageway in pouring rain. Because of the conditions I slowed down to allow the gap to the vehicle in front to widen to about twice the norm. Almost immediately, the vehicle behind me overtakes and fills the gap. I drop back some more…same thing happens.

Inspired by this piece ‘Not giving a damn’ might be one of the greatest skills it is possible to develop. (I’m still working on it myself.) When I say not giving a damn, I don’t mean stop caring full stop. Far from it. I mean caring *intensely about *what matters and not giving a damn about the rest. Particularly about other people trying to tell you what’s important. Don’t let anyone else dictate what you want.

Another bloggy one today I’ve been working all day today. Same tommorow and Boxing Day. That’s pub life, I suppose. Good money, though —double pay tomorrow! We work hard to make other peoples’ Christmas go smoothly. My ‘Christmas’ will be on the 30th. It doesn’t much bother me, since I’ve always been a bit of a grinch (less so lately though) but it’s a perfect example of how the general public don’t realise the retail and food service industries really suck to work in.

As I begin this piece, it is 11:44pm. To keep my daily writing streak intact, even if in the most technical of senses, I must hit publish before midnight. Let’s see how that works out for me. This will be not just frenetic, but frantic scribbling! Today was quite uneventful. Right up until the journey home. I had time to write earlier, but inspiration wasn’t flowing. Now…it is. I almost crashed my motorcycle.

Those that know me will be well aware that I swear like a sailor. Working in a commercial kitchen really hasn’t helped that. I can now swear in several new languages though! But until now I’ve kept profanity away from my public Internet presence. The reason I’m more cautious to swear on the Internet is the indelible nature of anything written on here. A vital rule of thumb is ‘nothing is ever deleted from the Internet.

Another ‘bloggy’ one today. Maybe these will become the new format. Alternatively, I’ll just keep flitting like a butterfly from one style to another. That sounds much more like me… Alcohol may be poison, but it’s also an effective ‘social lubricant’. Had a drink or two tonight, purely because I was in an unfamiliar environment. It’s a convenient crutch that will take me a little while to forget (ironically enough). I’m convinced that doing so, despite the painful awkwardness, will be worth it.

Heads up — This’ll be a much more informal and ‘bloggy’ post than usual because I actually have stuff to talk about for once. Passed my motorcycle theory test this morning, though I’m not sure how. If I hadn’t had one of the craziest rides of my life on the way there, I might have failed Hazard Perception what from still being asleep! My body clock is totally out of whack now from a 6am start.