Monday, December 1, 2008

Doing Good

Driving back from the theater last night, I started on a bit of a self-reflection jaunt. Twenty-seven years old, while certainly not "old," is closer to thirty than I would wish. There's a line in Song of Extinction, "I do not know if I do any good here...55 years old is a time for asking questions about this." But maybe 27 years old is also a time for asking questions about this - so I don't get to 55 and want to go back and do it all over again.

Time is a tricky thing - the minutes and hours tick along slowly enough, but all of a sudden you wake up and it's December. And you don't even remember what your resolutions were last year, so you have no idea if you've "succeeded." But lately, upon reflecting on the past 11 months, the only thing I wish for in the past year is that I began to do some good here.

So here is some "good" I'd like to do in 2009:

--find a volunteer niche that I enjoy - either something with animals or in a hospital or school
--put my creative energy out in the world - hopefully through playwriting and improv
--spend more time with my grandparents
--spend more quality time with myself

The last one is tricky - I spend time with myself all the time, but it isn't quality time. I figure it fits into the whole "doing good" theme because how can I help others if I'm not present within myself?

Hmmm...to think this started out as a post about Danish Modern furniture.

3 comments:

Bianca (as in Jagger) said...

The fact that you're even musing about "good" things you want to do in your life is more "good" than I've done. I suppose I have "good" intentions, but not ones I consciously set out to follow...

I have spent more time with my grandparents this year though -- and I'm glad I did!

michael said...

two things........

1) For quality time with yourself (and for putting more creative energy out into the world) get "The Artist's Way" for yourself for Christmas. It's a twelve week workbook that will change your life!

2) my favorite quote of succeeding:

"To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden path.....to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded! (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

NoHoJax said...

michael - so funny you should say that - I've tried The Artists Way and loved it, but couldn't carve out the time to do morning pages. This blog is sort of the alternative to that (I know that totally goes against a lot of things, but whatever). I do want to start following the book more rigorously in 2009, and might do better with a support system...you interested?