Happy New Year +3!

A lot of my friends have decided to start joy jars. For those of you who aren’t in the know, the activity consists of writing down all the good things that happen during a day on slips of paper and placing them into a jar. Then on New Year’s Eve, you read the slips of paper and read about all the good things that happened.

I like the idea. Actually, I love the idea, but it’s not feasible for me. Why? Well, first, I only have so much room on my desk, and a jar such as this would deserve a prominent placement and that’s just not going to happen. Second, a jar on my desk is an invitation for my nibby dogs. Third, jars collect dust.

Okay, so that last one was a stretch, but reasons number one and two are legit.

So, I want to participate, but I don’t want an actual jar. The solution: this blog. Each day, I will post something good that happened. No whining about the bad things, no complaints about how the day could have been better. Just the good things.

Now, I am starting this a few days late, but only because I took a couple of days to decide if I wanted to actually do it. I asked myself, “Self, do I really have time to write a blog on this topic? What if nothing good happens that day? What if the good thing is trivial?”

Then I realized that all my objections for doing it were the exact reasons I needed to do it. So, here I am.

I’ll be back to post the good thing later. This was just my way of announcing, “count me in, guys!”

🙂

Figuring Things Out

Being a generalist with a specialist bent should keep life interesting, and yet I sometimes find myself totally bored with what I am doing. But just because you love what you do, this doesn’t mean you will love it all the time. There are lots of things I enjoy doing that at times leave me cold and totally unmotivated. Not sure why I thought writing would be immune to that.

Like with anything else, you just have to find ways to keep it interesting. I’ve spent way more time on articles than I should have. Methinks it is time to branch out a bit. Remember what ignited my desire to become a writer in the first place. To that end I think I’m going to attempt NANO this year. Except I don’t think I’m going to do a novel per se. It’s going to be the shell of a screenplay instead. I also have a few passions I’m going to pursue as well, such as a website about eviction laws in the US. But that’s still in the planning stages.

So folks, the point to this ramble is this: do the stuff that puts food on your table, keeps the roof over your head, and gas in your car, but don’t forget to do the things that make you happy as well. Life is too short not to enjoy your trip around the sun.