November 30, 2023

Some thoughts on an Iron Noder month

Iron Noder 2023 is drawing to a close, and I have managed, for the first time, to achieve Iron Noder status! I have to say that I've had a blast, and O boy have I learned some lessons. I'd started the month with five writeups in my Drafts that were almost ready to go, but then almost sabotaged myself with a couple of longer pieces. I didn't enjoy that, so went back to having fun writing things that just caught my attention in the moment. I learned to carry a notebook and a pen to jot down thoughts or just odd words. 10/10, would try for Iron again! So, thank you Mauler for organising it, and thus helping enable the removal of five items from wertperch's nodeshell challenge.

The other side of the month was that I was kept busy reading. I've been fascinated and delighted by so many new writeups and took my responsibility as an Iron Voter seriously, reading everything and usually spending all my votes and chings every day. If you've not yet had a chance to, take a few days to read their submissions Iron Noder Progress. Offer these brave and determined souls some feedback, tell them you love them, because they worked their fingers and creative minds to the bone. If minds have bones.

One of the best things about deciding to write more was looking for inspiration. Sometimes this came from other users or following up what they'd written. At least three of mine this month came from others' direct suggestions, so thanks to them too.

I plan to do another Brevity Quest in February (although I'm behind on sending out prizes from the last one), because damnit I enjoyed organising it. I might just do another LieQuest in April too. The one two years ago was a riot, and I could sure use a riot right now.

In other news, my reading list pile is now just below my knee. I've knocked four books off it in the past couple of weeks but it's still too high, largely because I've been adding to it and borrowing from the library. I must learn to read more, borrow less, or decline gifts of books. Current reading is Cloud Atlas (an excellent and challenging book) in bed, and The Illuminatus! Trilogy downstairs (because I've been meaning to read it for years). Neither are light reading.

I've been talking to weroland over the past few weeks. I want to buy him a beer one day. In any case, a couple of days ago during a conversation about whether he'd make his thirty, I cast my I Ching to see if he'd make it and got the following (weroland got "Contemplation and Increase"), and my mental pareidolia kicked in to predict he'd finish strong:

Primary Hexagram	Secondary Hexagram
Chun, difficulty at the beginning	Kou, coming to meet
The Judgement Difficulty at the Beginning works supreme success Furthering through perseverance. Nothing should be undertaken. It furthers one to appoint helpers.	The Judgement Coming to Meet. The maiden is powerful. One should not marry such a maiden.
The Image Clouds and thunder: The image of Difficulty at the Beginning. Thus the superior man Brings order out of confusion.	The Image Under heaven, wind: The image of Coming to Meet. Thus does the prince act when disseminating his commands And proclaiming them to the four quarters of heaven.

Today is Pungenday, the 41st day of The Aftermath in the YOLD 3189

Iron node 32

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The heavy pressure of the past several days has ebbed, and you're able to go about your business with a lighter heart...And so began my horoscope for today. It continues:

Don't be shy today about expressing your self. You'll feel better if you do. Speaking of feeling better, it would be a good idea to pay more attention to your body and start some healthier habits, too.

It's the last day of IRON NODER XVI: MORE STUBBORN-HARD THAN HAMMER'D IRON and I sit here trying to process the last month. It has been a most educational month for me, kind of like taking grad courses as one attends multiple writer's workshops in different genres while working at three different professional conferences on unrelated occupations, or so I imagine. It didn't go as I thought it would back on November 1. I didn't take advantage of the logs I mentioned then. I tried but the words just weren't there. Part of that is the day logs are the place I notice the disparity between my scribblings and the writing of all the rest of y'all. I find them to be some of the most engaging reading here. But, I enjoyed my self and am the better for it. I got to thirty wus, read and voted on almost all of the entries and will get to the rest soon enough. I witnessed more of how this place works as it occurred in a compressed time frame. Was reminded of some of my challenges, and can do better moving forward. Still looking for my voice here and have found a few areas I'm comfortable in and have assigned my self projects so as to focus my resources. Also, pacing and preparedness are good. Obsessing and ignoring real life are bad.

Thank you one and all for being part of this. Gratitude goes out to those who came before; to those present now, and to those who haven't found their way here yet. Thank you for the opportunities, thank you for the experiences and the xps, thank you for the feedback and guidance, thank you for being you. Erudite, exquisite, and etiquette are the words that most come to mind when I think of this community. I am most appreciative of all I have received here. Oh, and thanks for the C!s!

And now back to organizing chaos (or at least spreading a little), sprinkling magic, and snacks. And soft links, always another soft link.

Well, this is the first IRON NODER where I didn't use all of my day logs. Not sure why. I think I just didn't want to talk about myself but I didn't entirely avoid that anyway. It's been a hard year for me for reasons that are both too personal and too complicated for me to explain here. I started out with very little motivation and remained there for most of the month. Per usual, the end of the month showed up and I started going like I actually wanted to finish. A big part of this is that I had to use vacation time before the end of the year and this week seemed like the time to do that.

I don't exactly lack for ideas to write about but I often run into a kind of writer's block where I keep swerving away from my central topic. I'll write a sentence, delete it, write another sentence, delete that, write a paragraph, delete that, and just end up staring at the screen with the clear sense that there is more to say but no idea how to encapsulate it. I've read enough to figure out that ideas that look small in the mind are often sprawling on the page. The number of ways to express an idea incorrectly out numbers the effective ways by such a huge ratio that it boggles the mind. Literally boggles the mind. As in if your mind isn't boggled thinking about that then you don't get it. Some nodes just about killed me trying to write them and others were upsettingly easy.

I'm glad to have written this month and I'm glad it's over.

IRON NODER XVI: MORE STUBBORN-HARD THAN HAMMER'D IRON

A month ago I made note that I was taking December off from social media (addendum: as of this posting, it's still November where I am, at least) to see whether the continuing conversation around the philosophy of Pandeism, which I have championed the revival of for over a decade, would flourish in my absence or wither.

I honestly don't know. Has my presence truly helped the theological model take hold, or have I simply propped up an arcane idea like Thor lifting the cat's paw from the ground (not knowing it was an illusion cast on the World Serpent)? Or am I holding it back, like the man trying to pull down the wall without realizing that the rope he holds is what holds it up?

A mystery to be put to the test over the next 31 days.

Enjoy your Solstice, and I'll see you in the year 2024!!