I know I have just a few more things I want to say re: wrapping 52 half marathons in 52 weeks up in a tidy little bow.
However, my next project gets underway this week. So, I need to tell you about it and we’ll just finish up the half marathon talk sometime along the way whenever we can.
As you’ll notice, it’s been over a year since my last project. You may be wondering why I waited to so long to do another one… Or you may be wondering why I’m tackling another one at all.
So, I’ll address both of those wonderings here in this post.
Some of the reasons I’d like to do another project:
– I gained a good amount from my last project, and look forward to learning new things and growing in new ways.
– I feel like the year went slower with the 52 half marathons. With a numbered project, it made it sort of easier to savor time. By the end of 2013, I wondered, “where has the year gone?” But at the end of 2012, I had a blog chock full of tons of new experiences. I’d known exactly where the year went.
– I’ve complained on this blog before that perhaps I don’t give enough time to my creative pursuits – that perhaps I don’t spend enough time writing, following my dreams, and all of that great stuff. I used to think that maybe that meant I need to buckle down and spend more time in my apartment writing (which of course would be a component to creating great stuff).
However, after thinking on it more, I believe that I work better when I have at least some things going on. When I have nothing going on, it can get sort of easy sometimes to let my whole day melt away because I can always get around to something later. However, when I have other commitments, that makes my time seem more precious to me and I need to be better at using it.
I don’t know if that’s a silly hypothesis. I don’t know if that makes sense. But it’s what I think is true. Of course, there still is something to be said for not overextending yourself. But, I think with this project I’m hopefully hitting the sweet spot of keeping me busy enough to know I need to work when I have the chance, but not so busy that I never give myself time to work.
Now, onto the other question I addressed –
Why did I wait so long to do another project?
Well, for one thing, I was pretty sure I was going to give a kidney to a stranger, which was going to be a pretty big project in itself. However, that sort of blew up in my face (and I realize I have a many-part series telling you all about it that I totally owe you, and I promise we will get to it).
Anyway, it took a while to go through the process, even if it didn’t end with me having only one kidney (yet). So, that’s one reason I didn’t take on a bigger project.
Plus, I was sort of doing the “year of responsibility.” It was small. It was less structured than 52 half marathons in 52 weeks. But I have to say that taking time to focus on some that stuff was really helpful for me. In being more present about my eating and fitness and such, I’ve lost about 25 pounds. I also feel less cluttered in my mind and space. (And I learned a pretty good amount about social media.)
Is there still plenty of room to grow in all departments of my life? You bet there is! My eating is much improved, but can still be better. (I also can still stand to lose more weight.) My room and computer could both be better organized still. (I’ll admit, I’m still not at inbox zero for the time being.)
But, I made a lot of progress. And I’ll continue to work on that stuff as I do this next project (and probably for the rest of my life, ’cause no one has everything completely perfect, right?).
Anyway, let’s stop with this huge preamble and get to the juicy stuff – the cool new project!… Which we will talk about tomorrow.