I drove down to Chattanooga today and went on a 3 hour hike around Signal Mountain. Honestly, the drive (just under 2 hours) was lovely itself, and driving up the switchback really reminded me of Colorado. Nature is majestic and magical. I literally thought to myself, "Is this what being happy feels like?" The mountains, in particular, fill me with a sense of awe. The hike itself was amazing, even though at times I lost the trail, and there were some steep, rocky parts. But there were falls, a dam, a suspended bridge, and a gorgeous view of the Tennessee River. I'll just let my photos show a glimpse of what was a wonderful hike.
March was good for me. I gave up my computer for Lent. Until I had to apply to some jobs. So I didn't quite make it the entire 40 days. But instead of turning it off for good, I want to do one or two productive things instead. I fell off the wagon of my daily goals or habits I am trying to cultivate: Practice violin, Study German, Read the Bible, Exercise, and Clean. I had paired Writing with Exercise but I really want to do both. It has been disappointing to not feel like any good habits have taken root, but I can't think about streaks. I have to become someone who does the things and lives the life that I want. I don't think about running 3-4 times a week. I do what I believe a runner does until I convince myself that I AM a runner.
I have been writing every so often when something comes to my mind. I keep a pad of paper in my car for road thoughts. I'm not OCD exactly but I really wanted separate books for different types of writing. But at the end of the year I hope to bundle all the things I've done and be able to say, "The efforts of this year have born good fruit."
There's an information overload whenever you look online. But there's a ton of valuable nuggets of information and advice that could be used to better your self. One easy way to process and catalogue those clips would be to write a short blurb about them. Just an attempt to internalize something useful and work on my writing at the same time.
I'll fail for sure, at some points. But I have to believe that I can work towards bettering myself consistently, and that means I have to declare my goal. I don't have an audience now, but maybe one day I will, and they can help keep me accountable. But to be clear, I want to write a short blog at least once a week. Then twice a week.
Here's my first clip to share. I'll see if I can embed it directly, but here is the link.
