Selfie posts show up on Mondays, right? That’s the plan. Well, for the last week or two plans have been… Let’s just say I’m playing it by ear these days.

So what happened? You probably could see the fissures in last week’s Paisley Pig Selfie. I alluded to the meeting I had upcoming that week with a financial planner. I went into that meeting just as terrified as I expected to. She was nice, extremely knowledgeable and… not what I need right now. She pointed out that which I suspected – there’s no magic trick to get out of the situation I’m in. But that’s life, right?

She did give me a few specific strategies to consider. In addition, she wanted me to list what I like to do in a column, and then next to it what I’m good at and use that table to consider ways to better utilize my, as Liam Neeson would say, my special set of skills… whatever those might be (spoiler: it’s not rescuing people in third world countries while racking up a huge body count – though I can write that!).

I haven’t done it yet. Maybe I’m afraid of seeing where I should be and too terrified to go there?

The rest of the week sort of blurred out. Come the weekend, I wasn’t bartending, but I said yes to a lot of things without putting myself first. I’d love to tell you it’s because I’m an inherently selfless person, but deep down I think it’s because it’s easier to help someone else then deal with my own stuff.

Like, you know, updating my blog?

Yeah, that…

I put up a brief posting last week on Story day that I’ve been sort of spinning my creative wheels, and that’s still true. A funny thing, though: lately some of my characters from the two novels I’ve been working on (the first-draft Banshees story, and the I-need-to-get-back-to January June story) have been visiting me, asking when we can hang out. Not literally – please don’t think me that far gone – but, you know, their stories intrigue me and I do want to play in their worlds. If nothing else, maybe I’ll tell some stories there just until I can get creative traction.

But after that “Nothing to see here” post last week… nothing. I missed a Five Things This Week which is just… dumb. Those are fun! And I missed the mark on this selfie post…

Until now.

Potius sero quam nunquam – better late than never.

Feeling lost again today, I decided to take The Long Way Home. Of course I stopped at the ocean. Portuguese Beach. Normally I’m content to sit at the scarred picnic table at the edge of the bluff and watch the waves batter the shore, but today I decided to change into shorts (sorry any onlookers!) and head down to the waves. I took the above picture after making first contact with the waves. I’ve lived in Northern California for nearly my entire life, but when waves of a Northern Beach first hit my legs I’m always shocked how bracingly cold it is. Shocking. Refreshing. Nourishing. Okay, yeah, Nourishing, but you’ve got to get past that goddamn cold first.

I did. And it was – both cold and nourishing. I don’t go out there near enough, particularly seeing that it’s just 15 minutes away. But that’s going to change. After all, I could use all the bracing nourishment I can get these days. Also, it’s free – something that financial planner would no doubt approve of.

Potius sero quam nunquam.