I find it sometimes difficult to begin things. For some reason, start dates matter - a lot. The first of the month, of the year, a birthday, an anniversary - these are all impetuses to begin a new project. "This year, I'll be better." "For the next three months, starting today, I will..."
It makes sense. These are natural beginnings, ones that fall out of our control and if we miss them, consciously or not, we have an excuse not to go through with our plans until the next natural beginning.
But what's wrong with starting a project on April 29? It feels a bit unnatural, but hey, I"m inspired today. I know I'm not great at long term projects. But challenge is good, right? So, we (royal we) try.
Today, I'm going to try this #100HappyDays thing. It evolved from...some social media site basically challenging people to find one bright spot of happiness each day 100 days and document it. I like this idea because I get bogged down often by the mundane and forget too easily about the laughter. So...we try.
Today:
I was at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, founded by John Adams way back in the day, for a department retreat. On the walls, there hung letters from various members of the AAAS accepting their induction into the Academy. Many of these were famous names: Martin Luther King Jr., Daniel Day Lewis, Charles Darwin, George Washington. Some of them were beautifully handwritten, some were typed. One guy just wrote. "Gentlemen, Okay."
The whole thing was inspiring, but my bright spot of happiness comes from Benjamin Silliman's letter, not because it was particularly illuminating, but because it reminded me of every day walking up Science Hill and tipping my hat (sometimes mentally) to Silliman's statue. Oh yeah, I'm still a Yalie.
It makes sense. These are natural beginnings, ones that fall out of our control and if we miss them, consciously or not, we have an excuse not to go through with our plans until the next natural beginning.
But what's wrong with starting a project on April 29? It feels a bit unnatural, but hey, I"m inspired today. I know I'm not great at long term projects. But challenge is good, right? So, we (royal we) try.
Today, I'm going to try this #100HappyDays thing. It evolved from...some social media site basically challenging people to find one bright spot of happiness each day 100 days and document it. I like this idea because I get bogged down often by the mundane and forget too easily about the laughter. So...we try.
Today:
I was at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, founded by John Adams way back in the day, for a department retreat. On the walls, there hung letters from various members of the AAAS accepting their induction into the Academy. Many of these were famous names: Martin Luther King Jr., Daniel Day Lewis, Charles Darwin, George Washington. Some of them were beautifully handwritten, some were typed. One guy just wrote. "Gentlemen, Okay."
The whole thing was inspiring, but my bright spot of happiness comes from Benjamin Silliman's letter, not because it was particularly illuminating, but because it reminded me of every day walking up Science Hill and tipping my hat (sometimes mentally) to Silliman's statue. Oh yeah, I'm still a Yalie.
Maybe not the most exciting picture to start, but it made me happy. :)
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