In 2022 I set forth on a quest, a journey, a mission: that for which I am destined. I supposed I conquered a few things last year, like the back yard. In 2023, I’m on a different quest.
It’s been tricky to narrow down what missions I want to make public. So in 2023 there are a few public goals, a few more secret goals, and some other odds and ends like a word for the year.
On to this year’s mission!
Move More Sit Less
I sit all day for work, then I stand and make dinner. Then I sit to eat dinner and I sit to read books. And sometimes I putter around my yard and call it gardening, but most of the time I sit.
In January I moved more and sat less. The FitBit tells me:
- 3,329 average steps walked per day.
- 214,937 lifetime steps since starting to use the FitBit in January.
- 144.32 lifetime miles since starting to use the FitBit in January
- Best day? More than 6,000 steps!
I finished another of the Conqueror Virtual Challenges and am well on my way to exceeding my year-long goal of 175 miles.
All Things Writing
Last year I finished the first draft of a novel. This year I want to finish the second draft. I also enjoyed posting twice a month here, so let’s see if I can meet or exceed that one in 2023.
- That second draft is starting to pester me, so I’ve started to take notes. The thing is warping into something completely different than the first draft. Sigh. That’s how writing works.
- I wrote two posts in February: Mission 2023 February and All About The Conqueror Virtual Challenges.
- I published another brief newsletter in February. Keeping my fingers crossed I can do that every month this year. It always includes something that is not on this blog. Jump on that mailing list.
Finish All The Projects
If you’ve owned a home, you know that the list of projects never end. And to be honest, I don’t think I’ll finish ALL of the projects. But this year, I’d like to knock a few of those things that I’ve been thinking about for a long time right off the list.
This part of the mission is more about consistently making an effort to do the things…all the things…even the little things like take that pile of things to the thrift store or break down the boxes and put them in the car and haul them off to the recycling center.
Not much activity on this one in February. It was cold and snowy and dark. Sigh.
Secret Things
There are a handful of other things I’m hoping will happen. I mean, one of them is definitely going to happen in April.
The plane tickets and hotel are already booked. I’m thinking about what to do while in that city, and what to wear in the parade (for real.)
Another “secret thing” also in the works for after April!
Year In Books
This year I’m a Bookshop affiliate. Bookshop actively supports local, independent bookstores and has even given more than 80% of their profit margin to independent bookstores. I even have my own store on Bookshop!
I’m making an effort to buy some books from Bookshop, and others from Sleepy Dog Books, my local independent bookstore.
(Disclosure: All of the links to books are Bookshop.org affiliate links. If you click through the link and finalize a purchase, I earn a commission.)
In February I read
- Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
- A Place in the Country by Laura Shaine Cunningham
- Help for the Haunted by John Searles
Word of the Year
Action is the word of the year. I want to accomplish, do, go, make things happen.
That’s not what February was about at all, or maybe it was just a quieter “make things happen.” I took myself out for tea and treats, bought some new shoes. I saw two movies at the local theater.
So February was small, quiet action befitting a small, quiet month.
Guiding Thought
As I went through the process of thinking about my mission for the year, the one thing that I kept returning to was: what was life like before the internet? Do more of that!
In February, I used the internet to buy things, including birthday gifts for myself. You couldn’t have done that before the internet; you would have needed a paper catalog. Or you would have had to literally walk into a store and hope they had what you were looking for. I miss those days of wandering around stores searching for something unknown…
I still find that mystery in thrift stores, which I did hit during February. And I walked outside a few times with a friend. I read books… physical books, not digital books. I cooked not digital food…but from the digital Hello Fresh service (I’ve had at least 70 weeks of deliveries at this point.)
It’s not easy doing more of “life before the internet” when you’re whole life is now tied to the internet in one way or another. How about you?
Quote of the Month
Did you know there is a collection of thought-provoking quotes up at the top of the blog? Once that page displays and you’ve absorbed the words, click “Next Quote” to see another and another and another.
“Every person shapes and colors the world in which he lives by the things he builds into his character. It is a different world for each of us. I mean this very literally. Whatever controls the kind of person we are inside determines also the kind of world we are to live in. If we ourselves can control and guide what we are within, we shall have the power of making our own environment. In a very real sense, each person IS his own environment.”
Richard Heinemann
Your Turn
Tell me how your “missions” are going this year. Read any good books lately?
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