Oh yeah, that list....

So: way too many posts ago, but also not enough posts ago because I should have written way more posts by now, I ended with the optimistic, "Tomorrow, a list!" That is, a list of ways to push past old regrets so that I can be a better person for myself and those around me in a creative, productive present. I think I've been avoiding the task because I'd subconsciously decided the list had to be the end-all and be-all Solution For Everything Ultimate Self-Improvement List. Which clearly has gotten me nowhere. So, finally, I am writing a quick, partial, late-night version of The List, so that I can know I have done it and moved forward. And maybe it will actually do some good.

OK. Here goes.

1) Keep running. Literally, that is, not metaphorically. I've been running regularly again for the first time in years and my body is grateful for it. My jeans even fit a tiny bit better. I'm a better person when I run, less edgy, less unecessarily intense, more clear-headed. Plus I simply feel better the way exercising people do. So. Yeah. Keep running.

2) Keep writing. Every day. This blog plus other ways. Keep the cobwebs out of my head, no blame anything or anyone around me for my not writing, and most importantly, of course, duh, maybe produce something worth reading and/or publishing. Which can only be a good thing. 

3) Keep working on the play or screenplay project I started a few weeks ago when a bizarre fever brought me a story idea in the shower. Even if it evolves slowly, which it most likely will as all my projects do, work on it and allow it to be worthwhile. 

4) Keep getting rid of stuff. And the stuff I do have, take better care of.

5) Apply to a bunch of writing colonies this year with project #3, get accepted to one, and go.

6) Write in a genre I've never written in before. Fiction, most likely. Let #3 be fiction if it needs to be. Try it that way.

7) Volunteer for something I really really care about. Allow it to matter.

8) Write pieces about Detroit, find ways to publish them. 

9) Write at least a poem a week. I miss poems.

10) Map out writing projects I want to complete in the next 10 years. (Another list).

11) Cook more from scratch, enjoy it as a creative process.

12) Grow things.

13) Speak my mind more easily, simply. In an open non-defensive way.

14) Find more ways to have true bonding time with my partner. Even if it's just finding fun/collaborative ways to do housework, organize the living space, etc. But also, outdoor things, short trips for no reason other than the pleasure of the trip. Things like that.

15) Get to LA to visit my friends, finally, and also to NYC at least once.

16) Plan trip to Scotland/England w/my mom.

17) Read more news about hard things I don't necessarily want to look at but know I need to be aware of.

18) Take the dog to dog parks!

19) Allow my boldness to flourish. In a non-foolish way.

 20) Always seek and pursue the greatest number and greatest quality of options for positive change. The best ways to be of use in the world.

OK, thank you for indulging me. It'll help as I move forward. The next post will be more about things happening around me, less about things happening inside me. But I needed this right now. So. Thank you, dear reader, or possibly readers? Thank you.