One Word, Writing

Reverb10 #1-2 after the jump...





I figured I might as well get started, so it's time for prompts 1 and 2!




PROMPT 1: 
One Word. Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you? (Author: Gwen Bell)


This is actually a pretty easy one for me, as I had been thinking about that for the past few days. If I had to sum up 2010 in one word, it would be adventure. It has been such an incredible year, full of crazy opportunities and so much more traveling than I have had the pleasure of experiencing before. I've been calculating it up, and I think (not counting commutes back and forth to work, etc, only actual trips) I've traveled around the world about 1.5 times this year. I've been on 14 flights this year alone, which is a big deal considering that before that the last time I flew was tenth grade. I've driven my car all over. 


I don't want that to end in 2011. Something that I really want for my life is to never just be content to sit still in one place. I always want to press on and experience new things, see new places, meet new people. Since I'll be moving in 2011 to the other coast, I don't think that will be a problem. If I had to pick just one word to express what I hope for in the new year though, I think I'd have to pick stability. By that, I obviously don't mean stagnancy. I don't want everything to settle and just stay the same...things do still need to keep changing, and I need to keep growing. But I want to be able to get out to California and adjust into my new life out there, make friends, and become comfortable with living on my own. Right now I'm excited for it, but still kind of nervous. If a year from today I can look back at 2011 and see that I've managed to find stability and successfully adjust, I will be thrilled. 






PROMPT 2: 
Writing. What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it? (Author: Leo Babauta)


Honestly, my biggest problem when it comes to writing is that I haven't made it a priority lately. I kept a diary starting in 2nd grade, and wrote almost every day until after I graduated from highschool. At that point, life took over. I let myself get way too busy and tried to include a ton of things into my day that didn't need to be there; rather than write every night immediately before falling asleep like I used to, I would finish the mountains of homework and papers for my college courses or decide that to unwind I would watch a movie until falling asleep. Slowly, I have simply fallen out of the habit of writing every night. It's as simple as that. Writing every day before came natural to me. It was a habit, I didn't have to try at it. Everything was caught up so that I only had to write about that day. The more days you let slip between entries, the more intimidating it is to attempt to catch up. Days start slipping away, and aren't recorded, meaning one day they'll be forgotten. Some of them are already forgotten.
I can easily eliminate that problem by re-prioritizing. The difference is that I'm going to have to find a new time to write, because at the moment it's simply not convenient for me to attempt to lie there and write 2-3 pages before falling asleep each night. I need to get into the habit of writing immediately after eating dinner or something instead...whether it is catching up on my diary, or posting something on here, or beginning a story or poem. Anything. I just need to get back to writing each day and not making excuses.