The year of living obligatorily.

At the start of 2012, long before I knew I was going to <need to> be taking on this writing challenge, I made a decision to shake up my life a little. It was in the middle of winter, and I was coming home every night from work with very little going on and even less to occupy or engage my mind. Rather than basking in all this potential for productivity, I became paralyzed by the fact that almost nothing truly needed my attention. Besides the couch, the bathtub, and the view outside my living room window.     

So, I signed up for an online non-fiction writing course that lasted six weeks, and, as that tapered off, I started a 12-week effective communications class. As this was happening, I upped the frequency of my evening & weekend boot camp and belly dancing classes, while adding a hoop dance fusion workshop and a couple of extra of hooping sessions into the weekly mix. I had to postpone the remainder of those because I forgot I’d enrolled in an oil painting class at the local art & design college that was on the same night at the same time. In the midst of all this, I rediscovered my trumpet that I played in high school with the future vision that I would take lessons, instantly regain my teenage talent, and put an ad on Craigslist to invite musicians to join my gypsy band. 

As if that doesn’t sound maniacal enough, I will be starting an Arabic language class in a few weeks in preparation for my trip to Dubai in November. Those who have heard me mention/complain casually that I think I might be a little over-committed are probably casually thinking about punching me in the face right now.

In the back of my mind, I hoped that any or all of these might lead to some interesting writing topics. Too bad I have so much to do...