Reflection

The calendar year is winding to a close, and soon it will be time to write 2013 on our checks, if you are the type of person who is still writing checks in 2013.

Last year I bought a workbook to reflect on the year. It felt sort of silly and indulgent at the time, but when I reread my list of things to do in 2012 and questions I answered about 2011, I realized that it was well worth it.

2012 was a very intentional year, and for the first time in a while, it involved a lot of quitting and waiting and scaling back. When you are engaged in that kind of work, especially if you are a busy body like me, it can feel like you are doing nothing. But all that nothing led to me checking off a good chunk of the items on my "50 things to do in 2012" list.

Some of them were bucket list items (go on a solo backpacking trip). Some were chores I wanted to get in the habit of doing (wash car regularly). Some were grandiose and vague and I didn't make all that much headway on (learn Drupal). Regardless, reviewing that list made me realize that I woke up everyday with some kind of purpose in the back of my mind, and that makes a big difference in being able to sustain through personal hardship.

I'll be spending some time in the next week or so journaling about what 2012 meant to me (quitting teaching!) and generating a new list of things to do in 2013 (have a baby!).