The Goal
The Goal
Alternate Titles: 28 Posts in 28 Days, The Challenge, February 2023
My former (and hopefully future) roommate, Mary Sullivan, decided that instead of having a New Year’s resolution, she would set an individual goal for each month of the year. Mary was a psychology major. Therefore, this structure must have some psychological benefits. I am a copycat. Therefore, I too am setting a specific goal for each month of 2023. I completed my January goal (two days ahead of schedule!) and now it’s February.
This is the goal: Post something to this blog for each day of the month.
These are the rules:
Something is something: an essay, a poem, a research article, a list — it doesn't matter. As long as I’m the one who wrote it, it counts.
There must be 28 posts total, however they do not need to be posted every 24 hours since I may be without computer and internet access a few times this month.
No perfectionism and no ego allowed.
The Reason:
I love writing. I do. And it has taken me a very long time to admit that.
I grew up bilingual and have struggled with English since the 1st grade; I attended extra help grammar classes and cheated on my spelling homework. In the fourth grade, Ms. Laurence was concerned my English level was so far below the class average. In the 9th grade, John Paul said I'd never earn above a B-. My freshman year of college, Dr. Lee said my study of foreign languages was worthless and that I should be learning English grammar instead.
Of course, there was also Mr. Detritus in the 6th grade and Patty Hermoso junior year who encouraged me – they insisted I had an informal yet effective writing style. I did not believe them and have proclaimed myself “not a good writer” for nearly 22 years. But I love writing. And, if I am honest, I like the way I write.
Don’t get me wrong, my grammar is still questionable and my spelling is laughable at times. But I like my stories and I like that I don’t sound pretentious when I write them (if you’re looking for large vocabulary words, this is not the blog for you).
Plus, it’s February! February is special: it is the shortest month of the year which makes my goal 2 days easier than it would be in September, April, June, or November, and 3 days easier than it would be in January, March, May, July, August, October, or December.
My birthday is also in February. I am turning 23 in just eight days.
I am not excited to turn 23. I feel old (I know this sounds dramatic, but it’s my blog). I am, for the first time, struck by how quickly a year has gone by and how many goals are still just that: goals. This has never phased me before. I’ve always thought I had plenty of time left to achieve them. I could nonchalantly tack “by the time I'm 25” to any goal… At 18 I said, “I’ll know who I am going to marry by the time I'm 25.” At 19 I said, “I’ll be professionally successful by the time I’m 25.” At 20 I said, “I’ll finish grad school by the time I'm 25.” I mean, surely this was all attainable by TWENTY FIVE. It was a blissful number that was young and hip, but safely far away…
Right now, my age is stressful, like there should be something more attached to it (a 401k maybe?). I’m being forced to face the fact that I likely will not be done with grad school or know who i’m going to marry in the next two years. I’m learning to be ok with that. Fulbright, by the way, does not provide a 401k.
All of that, I suppose, to say that life moves fast and there is no time like the present to attack my goals. I like to write and I’ve always said I’d like to blog more. I’m turning 23, I have been living and working in Colombia, I have a month off of work, my best friends are all countries away, and I am newly single. I have lots of time, lots of stories, and lots of thoughts. It’s time to set the excuses and perfectionism aside and just write… At least for 28 days.
I hope you’ll tag along. Knowing you’re reading would serve as fabulous encouragement to keep writing and posting. Best case scenario: you enjoy some of what I write. Worst case scenario: you’ve given me a great birthday present ;)