Day 11: Nostalgia

Another day, another post that begins with me telling you that I was going to do one thing and was serendipitously led to do something else.

Nothing about today went as planned and to be perfectly clear, I don’t mean that in a bad way. It was just one of those days where you think you’ve set your course and for whatever reason, you consistently choose to take the detour. That’s where all the good stuff is hiding, right?

There’s no elaborate backstory to today’s little change. It was inspired by the crossword puzzles on one of the newspaper pages that were wrapped around the bunch of tulips I picked up on my walk this evening. A habit I’ve kept up for years wrapped up in a reminder of an old, beloved habit that has fallen by the wayside. I needed to take a little trip back in time, to revisit some very old habits. Good habits. Sometimes what is old needs to be made new again.

Day 10: Move

By now I’m sure it’s become clear that this isn’t and never will be a fitness blog, so today’s post is extra short.

Today’s little change was to try moving in a new way.

Day 9: Watch

I’m writing tonight’s post before I do what I’ve set out to do today because there’s a very good chance I might fall asleep while I attempt to do it. I’m going to watch a movie. A whole movie. On a weeknight.

At face value, tonight’s little change really feels like I’m going after the lowest of the low hanging fruit. A weeknight movie night? COME ON.

Truthfully, this is one of the hardest things for me to do for a million and one reasons and I’m sort of glad to be getting it out of the way. Or am I? What if I enjoy it?

I haven’t chosen what I’m going to watch yet, mostly because I have no idea what awaits me on the grossly underused streaming service that shall not be named.

Same rules as Day 7 apply tonight. Enjoy the show.

Day 8: Tools

After a few days of freestyling my way through this, I’m back to my list of little changes.

One of the first things I added to my list was to research and buy some new art supplies to experiment with on another day. I won’t bore you with the details, but taking the time to research a medium is a first for me. What normally happens is one of two things: I ask someone for a bit of advice and I run with it or I poke around an art supply store and go with something that looks like it might be fun to work with. Either way, there’s more of an emphasis on figuring something out by doing rather than thoroughly researching best practices.

The good news: I think I’ve landed on what I want to play around with. The bad news: everyone is out of stock! My search continues.

Day 7: Timekeeper

Another day, another unplanned change – I think I’m gaining some momentum here! This is really promising and if I’m being totally honest, unexpected.

When I planned this out, I started by making a list of things that I could try over the course of the next month. I think I got to about nineteen out of thirty little changes listed in no particular order before I ran out of ideas. My list varies considerably and the links between each item aren’t obvious (at least not yet).

Here’s the thing: I haven’t been looking at the list! I know that getting to bed early on Day 5 was on the list, but an attitude shift on Day 6 wasn’t, and neither was today’s little change: making time at the end of the weekend to relax, no matter what I think I still have left to do.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve spent Sunday night trying to get everything under the sun done… and for just as long, my Sunday night marathon of chores is a habit that I’ve wanted to break.

As I was thinking about what I would do today, my mind kept gravitating to realizations I had made over the last two days. I need to rest more. I need to dedicate time and energy to enjoying my life at this address. So, I made a deal with myself. After dinner, I’d set a timer for thirty minutes and only do as much of what I’d normally deem necessary in that timeframe before sending myself to the sofa. No exceptions.

So here I am. Signing off.