A Writer's Notebook, One-Thousand-Eight-Hundred-And-Sixty-Nine

It was another night of somewhat lower output, as I am still feeling quite overwhelmed at the moment.  I think that I need to push myself back into gear over the next few days, maybe doing it in a gradual way.  I am aware, as I mentioned last night, that writing more is probably good for me.  This is not simply in terms of the actual results for my writing, either in the sense that I am writing more work in general, or in that it also improves the quality of my writing, resulting in more good writing, not just more writing.  That is true, but there are also other benefits for me, in terms of my own mental well-being.  For one thing, I do feel a sense of accomplishment and a certain pride about being productive, which I do recognize as somewhat shallow, but it is still there, and I think that I should be more proud of it and less judgmental about it as well.  I also know that writing is a way for me to consider and work through various things.  I often process ideas or experiences with writing, and when I do a lot of writing, it often pushes me to a point where I really have to dig.  That results in me being more honest and going farther within the work, as well as pushing me to write about things I might otherwise not think about very much.  There are, of course, other benefits, including many that I probably cannot even name and of which I am not really cognizant in any direct sense.