I think the part that most surprised me about my 366 journey last year was that I really started to figure out who I was and really took hold of my life for the first time in a long time, if ever. Who would have thought that taking a self portrait every day for a year and posting some thoughts in the description block would have enabled such a transformation?
Not far behind on the surprise scale, however, was learning that inertia seems to apply to life as well as mass. A life in motion will tend to stay in motion and a life at rest will stay at rest just as surely as Newton's law applies to objects. The 366th shot of that journey wasn't the finale of the project. Rather, it really was a jumping off point for everything beyond. And after having applied some force to my life to set it in motion, I was ready to continue with that momentum in 2013.
So, where exactly am I headed in 2013? I've set out some goals for myself and will be detailing them more in depth as the year goes along. I'm proud to say that two have already come to fruition.
The first is that I've found a new job. While I'm grateful to my soon to be former employers for the 12 years of my tenure there, it just felt like it was time for a change for me. When I saw an opening at my local blood center I decided to jump on it. Blood donation is something that I truly believe in and it seemed like a natural fit for me. I can't tell you how excited I am about this new prospect in my life and look forward to the challenges and the rewards of a new job.
This blog is the other achievement. I've toyed with the idea of starting a blog for something approaching 4 or 5 years now. The void formed after the ending of the 366 project has left me craving an outlet for some reflections. The time had finally come for the blog idea to flower. And here we are!
A third goal really has me excited (and admittedly a little nervous, too). The object of most of my current efforts is training for the Colfax Marathon in May. I'm sure I'll have a lot of thoughts about that whole process in future blog entries, but it's already been fun to pick up where I left off last year. For those that don't know, I started running early in the course of the 366 last year and managed to work my way up to completing a half marathon in November. Once again I'm finding that there are ups and downs with training and that there are lessons to be learned with every single training session. I look forward to learning more as I go on this particular journey.
Love the background photo. I'll do short runs occasionally. But definitely no marathons in my future. Good luck with your new job.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ethan. Here's a view of that shot without the obstruction of the blog:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/ghosstrider/6994566819/
By the bye, another goal for the year is to make it to the top of Long's Peak again. Haven't been up there since you and I did it in 2001. Not sure if you ever make it out this way, but if you do and want to go, let me know!