Reposted from
I like editing in a novel. I like the finishing parts when I can make thing polished and perfect.
But I spent a very long time in my teens and early twenties editing my self. I learned to analyze every muscle of smile or eye movement or posture, tone of voice, and word. I’d take every action internally and analyze it, even though I couldn’t do it over.
My forties have ended most of that practice… but now I edit actions, running a risk/reward calculus through every errand. Go to the store to get a winter coat and risk illness? Last year with the covid numbers I made do with layers. This year the risk calculus is our local holiday festival downtown. Should I haul the kids out and make a memory? But last week two towns near us had shots fired at their parades/ceremonies. So we’re missing it this year. Will the kids mind? Probably not (the eldest has already declared themself above these things) but I prefer editing words on a page to actions in my life.