A New Beginning...

You know what one of the most glorious things about life is?

It's the fact that as long as you are still alive, you always have the option of a new beginning. This can be in regards to anything. It could be your career, your hobbies, your "style", or even your dormant blog that is gathering dust. Each and every day you have the opportunity to begin again. In a world where the majority of us are unhappy with some aspect of our lives, this is great news. We can be actively involved in reshaping our future. But we must make the choice, and to choose, we must first believe that we have some influence over how our lives turn out.

I have been in quite the rut these days, for several years it seems. Working the same part-time job, the same drive to and from said job, the same daily routine of lounging around doing random things until it's time to go into work, then lounging around after work doing random things. I have lacked a clear and defined purpose for quite some time. Before it was finish my degree in math, and then go from there. But when I changed my mind and took some time off from school, I fell into the trap of being comfortable. And over time it has gotten more and more difficult to think about overcoming my fear of change. But the good news is I am taking steps. This post is one of those steps. I have been putting off my first new post for too long, thinking I needed to have some kind of epic post to make a comeback with. But I realized that this is one of those faulty ways of thinking that has destroyed my creative process for too long. The idea that before putting anything on paper or writing anything I need to have a clearly defined image or plan of what I want to write and then I can start.

I've learned by reading the advice of a bunch of other writers that the only way to make something better is to get the crappy version down on paper first. Commit it to ink or pixels on a screen. At least then it is something physical that can be revised and perfected. An idea cannot truly be reworked until it is written, as much as you think you can do it all in your head. There is a power in getting everything about an idea out, and then tweaking what you have, removing unnecessary things, and revising for clarity.

My new beginning started last week. I set a very modest goal for myself of committing to writing 500 words a day. I set it low at first to encourage me to do it, since 500 words can be pounded out very quickly. I won't say I haven't missed a day or two since I started but I don't sweat it. I just try again the next day. I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed those little sessions, usually in the morning with coffee. It reminds me of the joy I used to find in writing. It reminds me of the passion I used to feel. I want to recapture that passion and watch it grow.

That is why I have also committed to doing NaNoWriMo this year, aka National Novel Writing Month. This is an event where writers from all over come together during November and share the journey of writing a novel in 30 days. 50,000 words in 30 days, or roughly 1667 words a day. Only about 3 times what I initially set for myself, which I feel is totally doable if I work up to it. I have also been following through a 30 day preparation challenge that goes throughout October in order to be better prepared than I was the last two years.

I also started another new beginning recently. I got a second part time job that I start on Saturday, and I'm really excited. I'm hoping to gain some experience, get a little extra cash, and overall just try something totally different to get out of my comfort zone. It's a job working in a retail e-cigarette location. I am really excited about it because it is something I know a lot about since I've been using an e-cigarette for about 4 months now.

So new beginnings all around for me, new blog post after a few years, new commitment to honing my writing talent, and a new job. I am ready to challenge myself, and force myself to grow as a person. It's been far too long that I have been stagnant and resistant to change. I'm ready for something new.  Drop me a comment to keep me motivated to stay active here. Honestly, my favorite part of blogging was always reading the comments from you guys/gals out there. Until next time, what new beginning are you going to embark on today?