A LIFE UPDATE

I woke up this morning thinking about writing and decided that, you know, I should do that. It's been a while. I fell into the DEVOLSON black hole last year and stopped blogging, and when I finally emerged, I realized that I missed it. I had (have) a lot of mixed feelings (Shannon @ River City Reading and Jenny Lawson @ The Blogess both have posts about this that really resonated with me), but I decided that this thing some people have, called a work-life balance? I should try it. I recently made a partial list of hills I'm willing to die on, and one of the ideas on that list was that people who say they don't have time to do things are lying. We make time for the things that are important to us (even if we don't realize we're doing it at the time) and so I'm going to try to make time for this thing that I supposedly enjoy but keep telling myself I don't have time for.

So - a life update. In spite of the absolute whirlwind that was the last six months (I thought I was changing jobs but NOPE, I thought I was moving - also (most likely) NOPE), my life looks a lot like it did a year ago. I'm still living in the same place, still working the same job. But I'm a different person than I was a year ago, and that makes me glad. I felt so stuck that its a relief to feel like I'm breaking out of that, however slowly. It's a reminder that all all ruts end eventually. So what have I been up to?

I'm reading more. I read just 24 books in 2017, almost exactly half of the 49 I read in 2016 and 50 in 2015. I'm currently reading two books: The View from the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman and American Fire by Monica Hesse. I'm also trying to reread A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle. I remember it being one of my childhood favorites and I'm planning to see the movie when it comes out in March. I'm thinking about doing chapter recaps/reactions because I think they would be fun, so keep an eye out for that!

I'm searching for new music. Music used to hold such a powerful place in my life, and while I've been enjoying returning to my standby artists and committing the Hamilton soundtrack to memory, I'm making an effort to discover some new loves and maybe put together some playlists to share. The podcast I Only Listen to the Mountain Goats is helping introduce me to a lot of artists I wouldn't have heard otherwise.

I'm writing more. I'm trying to commit to daily journaling, something I have never been able to do consistently, ever, and I'm trying to commit to blogging consistently. Both are things I know will be personally rewarding, but both are irrationally scary - that fear of failure rearing its ugly head again.

I'm watching new things. Last year, I found myself rewatching shows I'd already seen multiple times rather than reaching for new content. But I'm back! I watched The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon) over the long weekend and it totally surprised me (in a good way). I'm currently watching and loving the Spanish series Grand Hotel (Netflix) - it's very Downton Abbey meets Miss Fishers Murder Mysteries and I am loving it. I'm considering getting a Movie Pass subscription so I can start going to the movies regularly - if you've got one, let me know what you think!

All this to say: I'm getting back to myself - to doing the things I love - and it feels good.