Month-in-Review Highlights: June 2024

A scene not far from the hotel where I attended a yoga retreat on the island of Skyros, Greece, during the last week in May and the first week of June. June 3, 2024.

I postmortem each month shortly after it ends. Previously, I used these posts to hold myself accountable on progress toward my annual goals. Starting in January 2023, I broadened these posts to address more generally my observations and experiences for the month. (To read previous months’ reviews, click here.)

My May ended halfway through my yoga retreat in Greece and my June began with its final half. I tried a different retreat this year than I did last year—though both happened in Greece, interestingly enough—and they both had similarities and differences that make them easy to compare in some ways and difficult to compare in others.

I liked certain aspects of one more than the other. But after having now done two yoga retreats, I can at least say I’ll try to make at least one per year a habit, if I can. The experience is not only good for my yoga practice, it’s good for exiting my daily routine mentally and physically. (I just hope I can find a different location than the Greek isles for next year!)

The day after my return from the retreat, I began my first day of a two-day volunteering effort for the European Union elections. Saturday we set up the polling station here in Lausanne and got out bearings and assignments. Sunday we arrived an hour before the polls opened to take our places and prepare for twelve hours of nonstop voting from the French citizens in this part of Switzerland. We then needed to stay after the polls closed to oversee the ballot counts and then, while we waited for the government in Paris to certify our numbers, we dismantled the polling station. I found the experience exhausting—and absolutely fascinating. I loved seeing how the process unfolded from a “behind the scenes” perspective.

Also interesting: I was the only volunteer in the entire polling station with a foreign accent. Reactions to people with accents never fail to surprise me.

Back on the home front after the yoga retreat and then the intense volunteering—talk about a jolting juxtaposition—I worked through another round of revisions on the plan I’m developing for my next novel. I’ve even begun to round up a few fellow novel-planners and story-structure nerds willing to review it for me and give me feedback before I start drafting. As the group gels, I think we could even circle up and become writing-critique partners. Having other authors who work in a similar way and speak a similar jargon will really help streamline feedback and make it more actionable, I think.

In addition, I received most of the beta reader feedback for the novel I’m in the process of revising. I read through the comments from readers several times across three weeks to identify next steps for the work ahead. Receiving feedback on creative work (as opposed to professional work, which feels much more “just business”) is always an emotional rollercoaster. The issues with the manuscript I’d identified rarely match what readers see, and readers always point out problems I never caught because, as I have the entire story in my head, I didn’t realize what did and didn’t quite make it across on the page.

On other fronts as well, June felt nonstop. Medical appointments, working through business financial-system transitions, corporate and personal tax joy (in two countries on the personal front), and beyond.

The June trip to Greece marked the commencement of a series of intensive travel periods ahead. My goal now will be to keep on track with the objectives I’ve set for the year while adding a lot more geographic shifting around, a lot more time-intensive activities, and a lot more improvised workspaces in the months to come.