Man, oh man, I’ve been procrastinating writing this post – I can’t believe it’s already more than half way through January. Not exactly the best way to start off a new year, particularly after deciding I was going to be more on-track in 2011.
There are 2 things that have distracted me from posting.
1. A home improvement project gone wrong. A little painting turned into a ripped out wall, electrical work, and thoughts about the future. Like whether it matters what the walls look like if it means you can spend your weekends on more-interesting things. Alas, the repairs won out – this afternoon was spent doing drywall, one of my least favorite activities, while a monkey’s wedding took place outside.
2. I’ve been thinking about the focus of this blog and was reluctant to post until I had a better grip on its direction. I started out with an outdoor/food/movement type focus and wound up focusing almost exclusively on food as the weather and my mood changed. Throwing myself into cooking was easy. Exploring the other items was a bigger challenge last year for a number of reasons. My plans for 2011 are an attempt to rectify the situation. Generally, speaking, I am a learner. I love to try new things, explore, meet new people, travel, test and push myself occasionally, and share with others. This has given me many opportunities to do some pretty amazing things in my life so far, and I want to keep the momentum going.
Given that, my theme for 2011 will be: Living a remarkable life. The kind of life that I am appreciative of because I’ve done everything in my power to explore its possibilities; a life filled with love, friendship, and connection; a life in which sadness and struggle are balanced with joy and abundance; a life filled with stories – good or bad, but not regrets – not ever; a life that is, to be frank, a kick-ass, adventure-filled, ride!
It’s a broad theme, but, if it were narrow, it wouldn’t feel right to me. The breadth gives me a lot of leeway in what I write about. But, you can be sure that I will be talking about how to get the most out of my time on this planet through curiosity, sensory indulgence, a love of learning, and having a sense of adventure.
Here are some of the things I have planned for this year, that I will be writing about along the way:
Dancing – I love dancing! I am no dancer, in the professional sense of the word. But, over the years, I have danced my share of Latin, Middle Eastern, Eastern European, African, and American styles from hip hop to tap. I also spend a lot of time dancing by myself in the kitchen or bopping along as I run when the right song comes on. This year, I will be learning to tango, flamenco, and whatever else comes up.
Travel – This year’s agenda includes some road trips (NM+), and longer distance travel (Belize and SE Asia), as well as micro-travel as I become a tourist in my own back yard.
Movement – I will be on the run this year with various running events, as well as other outdoor and indoor fitness activities, including relays, cycling events, hiking, obstacle courses, CrossFit, and who knows what else.
Learning – Every year, I have both intentional and unintentional learning experiences that help me grow as a person and expand my mind. Reading, studying, observing, and experimenting let me test out ideas and better understand the world around me. Being curious, sociable, and open to new things means I sometimes wind up in some pretty interesting conversations and situations.
Food – While I will probably post some recipes now and again – in particular as they relate to the above activities, I think there are a tremendous number of bloggers that excel at this more than I ever could. I prefer to talk about food memories, how food makes me feel, the enjoyment I get out of finding things at ethnic grocery stores and from growing my own food, and the food I eat to sustain movement and adventure in a healthy, delicious way – given the food sensitivity constraints I have.
Improvement – It’s in my blood, and in my mind: setting goals, tweaking things, reflecting on experiences, understanding how something went wrong and how I can do better next time. As a child, I set goals and earned stars. As an adult, I worked professionally in the field of health care quality improvement helping others enhance patient care. Today, it is a personal quest, and one that influences much of what I do (not everything, though, since some things are just meant to be fun and free).
As the year progresses, I hope to take you with me on this ride, and learn about how you live your life, as well. And, I may delve into topics that I find helpful in pursuing a life that’s bursting at the seams, like how having no expectations can lead to the unexpected (obvious, I know), how to talk your partner into taking dance lessons with you, why you should (and how you might) retire periodically, the best ways to eat a tomato, why learning another language is like opening a window into your soul…
Let me know if there are things we should explore together, ways we might help each other through this fantastic, frenetic life. I look forward to hearing your remarkable stories.
About Stormy Sweitzer - Maoomba-in-chief
Okay, first I had to check what the heck a monkey’s wedding was, that’s the funniest term I’ve ever heard. Good for you with your plans, I hope your year is as filled with adventure as you can pack it, and we should never stop learning, no matter how old we get.