More Thoughts

I wrote two weeks ago about some thoughts I'd been swishing around in my brain. They were all about making deliberate choices, writing, and caring about personal growth.

This is a transitional time in my life. We just celebrated the new year. A new president is in office (and with him, much angst and justified fear has settled in). My second child is getting into a phase that's less draining. I also recently left a group blog where I'd been contributing regular posts for three years. All these things combine to make me feel like I'm on the precipice of something. Or of some things, multiple.

One of those things is greater civic engagement. My capacity's a bit limited by ... you know, life circumstances, like having two little kids and a strict budget and irregular access to a car, but it's nice to have this fire inside. I went to my local Women's March earlier this week, and I'm following the progress of a handful of bills I care about, and I'm contacting my legislators. It's all a start.

Another? Writing. Finding words and getting them out of my head and onto some flat or digital surface. This cultural moment is weird, though, because prevailing voices suggest ways to be strategic in writing, ways to build your brand, etc. And I waffle on whether or not that's a good approach for me. I just know that the act of writing is really freaking helpful for me as I try to figure out what I believe and value and where I've messed up and what steps to take next. So, in the spirit of my son's bike-riding mantra, I want to focus on watching my going, documenting the big and small stuff that makes up my life right now.

I'm about to turn 30, and I'm excited for that. One more big transitional marker. Let it be the beginning of my most curious decade yet.