The post-grad slump.
The quarter life crisis.
Whatever you call it, I have a near-fatal case. Six months ago I would have classified myself as someone who was constantly busy challenging myself and trying new things, but something changed when I graduated and I haven't quite been living the type of life I imagined I would be once I had more free time to spend on personal pursuits. Instead of reading all the books I've been meaning to, picking up hobbies I'd been pushing off for the sake of work and school, and being the type of "real person" I always imagined myself being, I've spent the last few months struggling with an eight-to-five job that I don't really enjoy, watching way too much instant netflix, and generally failing to figure out how to make this new way of life work for me.
Because of all this, I'm giving myself a big new years present: a fresh start, and some big goals to help me make my life meaningful despite the rut I've been in. Yes, I know it's all cliche - the new years resolutions, the do-this-for-a-whole-year blog challenges - but after being in the structured environment of school-and-extracurriculars for so long, I think a structured challenge will be the best way for me to start living the life I want to live.
So here it is - In 2012 I am promising myself to do four things:
First, I will read at least 52 books. Throughout all of college, I was so excited for the day that I would have all the time in the world to read whatever books I wanted for pleasure. Unfortunately, and embarrassingly, that's not quite the way things have happened. Yes, I've re-read all the Harry Potters and read a few other books here and there, but I want to be a far more prolific reader than I've been. Luckily, I've just been invited to join a once-monthly book club, so that will be a start. Otherwise, I'm on my own working through the huge list of 'someday' books I started making throughout college.
Second, I will do at least 52 artistic projects. Crafting, writing, knitting - whatever works. I just want to remind myself to do something creative at least once a week.
Third, I will make at least 150 new recipes. Cooking good food for yourself every day is way harder than I imagined it being when I saw my parents cook delicious and nutritious food every day for me as a child. This goal is partly about learning to live a healthier life through making more of my food, partly about being more organized and accountable for sharing the cooking duties in my house with Jared, and partly about building confidence in the kitchen so that I can start experimenting with food once I feel comfortable with a lot of recipes and techniques.
Fourth, I will run at least 500 miles. I love to be active, but I have a very spotty record of exercising regularly. This record is particularly bad when it comes to running, my exercise nemesis. While I plan to keep up with other forms of exercise (erging, lifting weights, the occasional Zumba class), I really want to learn to love running. Or at least be able to stand it. This goal will probably be wrapped up in training for a half marathon, but that is yet to be determined.
So that's it. I'll be posting about these four different activities as I complete parts of them, and tracking what I've done in the sidebar. What I include in posts is TBD, but I hope that they will be at least mildly entertaining, help me keep on track, and help some of my far away friends see what's going on in my life on a more day-to-day basis.
A disclosure: I'll admit that I'm a bit nervous about this whole format, even though it's not as if I expect a whole bunch of people to keep up with what I'm doing. I've never really though of myself as someone who would ever be a blog writer, and I still feel that way to a large extent. Aside from an couple ill-fated weeks trying to convince myself that I was cool or dedicated enough to use Tumblr, and a couple years writing excessively depressing and embarrassing LiveJournal posts in my early teen years, I've never really felt I had something meaningful enough to say in a public format. I've even considered making this project more of a private journal-type format, but with the encouragement of a couple good friends, I've decided to move forward with a public blog. So, we'll see what this brings. Cheers to new beginnings!
