Hey all…

Obviously, shit hasn’t magically improved in the last week. I missed yet another deadline. I’m very behind and still struggling with my physical and mental health and professional productivity.

I received a number of very supportive messages over private channels and more than a few of you were concerned with the tone of my last update. I was definitely not being very kind to myself and your concern was certainly warranted. However, while I appreciate the concern and the compassion behind the various bits of advice people keep sending me about how best to take care of myself, address my issues, and set my priorities, I would be grateful if you would all limit yourselves to expression of support and encouragement. I have a support network and professionals who are familiar enough with me and my situation to help me take care of myself. Even well-meaning advice can do more harm than good. By all means, let me know you care and you’re pulling for me: that will never not help. But stop there. I appreciate your understanding in that.

Now…

Looking over where I am at, I desperately want to stop “being behind.” I am recovering from things, but also just feel a little overwhelmed at the need to catch up and I’m still distracted by a few too many commitments and responsibilities to other things. I’m sick of not putting out content on time, I’m sick of not feeling like I can work on big projects because I’m chasing urgent deadlines, and I’m sick of feeling like I’m wasting weeks of my life. Over the past month, I have managed to un-knot a number of very serious issues with my physical health and my financial situation and settle a number of emotional issues. For the first time in a long time, I feel like I don’t have a bunch of external crap pushing on me from all sides. Things are stable. Not great, not joyful, kind of somber, kind of gray, but stable. And that’s as good as it’s going to get for now. The rest is on me and the biggest obstacle I’m now facing is me.

I am taking the next week — until April 1 — as a personal and professional retreat. I will be focusing purely on my physical health habits, my therapeutic work, and content creation. I have a number of features in various states of outlining and partial drafting and I owe you a few features before the end of the month and I mean to spend my workdays focusing on nothing but putting out that content.

I will be completely out of touch by all means except, in the case of technical or customer service issues, by e-mail at patron.support@angry.games. I will be completely absent on the Discord server and I will not be responding to comments, messages, or emails. Those of you who have regular contact with me, personally or professionally, have already been warned. I will trickle out the remaining March articles over the next week as and when they are available. I do not know what they will be. I need to make serious decisions about which content I can wrap up and publish most efficiently and which content will wait for April when I can devote more time to it. I will record Proofreadalouds, but they will not be released until next week, and they will not be recorded live.

On April 1, I will post the April Monthly Update and let you know where things stands. And if all goes according to plan, on Wednesday, April 3rd, I will post a Feature on time and be caught up completely and ready to go from “treading water” to “swimming the channel.’

Take care all. To those who celebrate, have a Happy Easter. I will see you on the other side.