I started this post on December 29, 2014. I have returned to it exactly six times since then. The post was originally titled, "New Years Resolutions."
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I'm just going to put it right out in the open, with much trembling and what very well may become a post I return to in a year and laugh at. None the less. For my New Years resolution, I would like to return to some of the habits and hobbies that occupied my life before I had kids.
Namely, these:
It would be really nice if I could read more books this year. And by more, I mean more than how many I read last year, which was zero. My former readoholic self would literally slap me in the face for this. I had one full day all to myself last year, on June 10, when I spent the day flying from LAX to NYC to IND. During this one day, I managed to read half of The Grapes of Wrath and I loved every page of it and then, sadly, never picked it up again. So this year I would like to some novels.
It would be really nice if we could travel more this year. Since big trips are impractical these days with a newborn and a Kindergartner, I would like to return to some of our old travel habits. Like camping and day trips and hiking excursions and road trips to new landscapes. On the off chance we did spend time in the wilderness last year, the older kids came alive in ways I didn't expect. And if there is anything better than exploring new places, it's doing it with wide eyed kids who are seeing and experiencing for the first time. If I was the kind of person who left sticky notes on the bathroom mirror*, the note for this resolution would tell all of us to Get Out More.
It would be really nice if I could write regularly again. Between 2007 and 2013, I averaged 50 blog posts a year. In 2014, I wrote a total of 5. The writer in me is horrified by this reality. Last year I felt like I was slowly suffocating this deep need in me to create new ideas and tell stories and reflect on the current state of my life and I'm terrified if I keep ignoring this need it may wither away into my past. The family record keeper in me is equally appalled. Where are the pictures from Stella's fifth birthday party? Where are the reflections on Fatherhood? How will 2014 be remembered and stored away without the written and visual record? I am determined to write and post more this year, which means not letting perfect being the enemy of good and being okay with letting posts suddenly end without a proper ending.
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* I'm not that kind of person.
____
I'm just going to put it right out in the open, with much trembling and what very well may become a post I return to in a year and laugh at. None the less. For my New Years resolution, I would like to return to some of the habits and hobbies that occupied my life before I had kids.
Namely, these:
It would be really nice if I could read more books this year. And by more, I mean more than how many I read last year, which was zero. My former readoholic self would literally slap me in the face for this. I had one full day all to myself last year, on June 10, when I spent the day flying from LAX to NYC to IND. During this one day, I managed to read half of The Grapes of Wrath and I loved every page of it and then, sadly, never picked it up again. So this year I would like to some novels.
It would be really nice if we could travel more this year. Since big trips are impractical these days with a newborn and a Kindergartner, I would like to return to some of our old travel habits. Like camping and day trips and hiking excursions and road trips to new landscapes. On the off chance we did spend time in the wilderness last year, the older kids came alive in ways I didn't expect. And if there is anything better than exploring new places, it's doing it with wide eyed kids who are seeing and experiencing for the first time. If I was the kind of person who left sticky notes on the bathroom mirror*, the note for this resolution would tell all of us to Get Out More.
It would be really nice if I could write regularly again. Between 2007 and 2013, I averaged 50 blog posts a year. In 2014, I wrote a total of 5. The writer in me is horrified by this reality. Last year I felt like I was slowly suffocating this deep need in me to create new ideas and tell stories and reflect on the current state of my life and I'm terrified if I keep ignoring this need it may wither away into my past. The family record keeper in me is equally appalled. Where are the pictures from Stella's fifth birthday party? Where are the reflections on Fatherhood? How will 2014 be remembered and stored away without the written and visual record? I am determined to write and post more this year, which means not letting perfect being the enemy of good and being okay with letting posts suddenly end without a proper ending.
_____
* I'm not that kind of person.