2019: Off we go...

1 January 2019: New Year's Day tends to depress me and just make me feel uneasy. I know it has to do with the triple whammy of 1) the end of the holiday season, 2) general anxiety and big feelings about progress or lack thereof in my life that always accompanies calendar changes, and 3) a realization winter really setting in. (I should note that we are in a warm spell here, but that will change. And it's been dark and rainy lately, so that doesn't help.)

So while New Year's Eve was fun (and I am so grateful for that), today is just kind of tough. I've kept busy and got a lot done, but yeah...it's tough.

But I am trying to put a focus on some positive stuff: getting ready for the semester as much as I can (don't put off until tomorrow...), cleaning/sorting/getting rid of clutter, and even thinking about a resolution or two.

There are a couple of resolutions I've made in the past four years or so that have really changed my life, or at least my outlook on it, in good ways. One was getting those 10,000 steps in every day I could. My goal each year is something like "at least 90% of the days that it is practical" (which lets me off the hook for days with pouring rain, ice, snow, illness, or just a jam-packed schedule). I kind of crush that 90% goal every year. And walking, as I know I've written about before, has become one of my favorite things. I think, I stretch, I listen to podcasts, I see interesting things. So that resolution has been terrific.

The second resolution that stuck was deciding to post a blog entry every day. I pulled that off in 2016, 2017, and 2018. Again, the simple routine--and this year it was just "post something"--gives me a goal and structure and forces reflection (in a good way). So I will keep that up, too.

As for a new goal, as strange as it might seem for an English professor to say this, I want to read more. And I mean "for fun." I read all the time--and I love that I get to do that--but reading a book just and only for fun has slipped out of my life. So I want to get that back. I won't post a number here, but I've got one in mind.

This is a long and rambling post, I know. But I think it all connects. Plans, strategies, structures, lists, and those kinds of things help me push through darkness and anxiety. So here's to 2019, I guess. Let's see how it goes.