Background:
Through and through, I am a creature of habit. My planner is the most important purchase of the year and I thrive off my Sunday night organization session where I outline my upcoming week in multi-colored pens. I have certain habits for grocery shopping and laundry and when I like to study foreign languages.
These routines, much like running and writing, keep me grounded and focused. But at some point, routines can become too much. It isn’t until you’ve stepped outside of yourself for a day or a week that you notice how much you’ve missed. You know that feeling of taking a long weekend trip? Suddenly, Saturday seems to last forever as you forget about buying bananas and bread and focus on enjoying wherever you are.
All this is to say that while I appreciate some of the structures I’ve given my life, I can’t help but wonder what’s just outside the box.
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I’ve been posting Smile Project blogs every Sunday and Wednesday for quite some time now. The Wednesday blogs tend to be a free-for-all of every day thoughts and ideas. Sunday became a working theme.
It began with Service Sunday, where I would interview an individual or organization that was making an impact in their community. I enjoyed talking to world shakers across the country (and am always eager to reopen my interview ears and learn from others). Last year, I began the Resolution Revolution where I outlined a week by week resolution for myself – a kind of value – to pull extra focus and attention to that week.
As 2018 began, I found myself without inspiration for a themed day. And then I thought of cliché quotes I would see in my friend’s AOL Instant Messenger Profiles…
“Do one thing every day that scares you!”
…it would say, written in multicolor cursive with mixed capitalization and an exorbitant amount of emoticon hearts.
The motion is nice – especially for those who enjoy a life seeped in fear. Then I thought about it some more. What if it wasn’t some sort of radical, sky-diving, bungee-jumping, going into the basement at night by yourself, activity? What if it was just something that shook up your world a little bit and made you feel a little bit different inside?
The new idea for Sunday blog posts is to write about one experience I had in the previous week that was out of routine, that wasn’t predictable, that made me think a little differently about myself and the world I live in.
As much as I wish I could write about jet setting off to exotic lands every weekend, these will have to be smaller and more manageable ideas – like singing a Barenaked Ladies song at a crowded karaoke bar or learning to make a fancy new meal.
I imagine I’ll need about 50 things which brings me to my next point… what do you suggest?
Love always,
Liz
