100 Day Projects

So here I am again, yammering on about the terrible state of the world, our country, the news, politics . . . and how much it degrades our happiness, our joy, and even our relationships with others. I debated with myself about whether or not to address any of the actual terrible stuff but really, I am not the person to do it. Nor is that my mission. I am here, instead, to offer the kind of thing I can offer.

When I had a very difficult year or so, during which my mother died, both of my dogs died, and my closest friend died, I gave myself a project. The friend, who was the last of my loves to die during that year, had been a gifted poet. She died at the age of 49 of pancreatic cancer. So I set myself the task of writing a poem a day for 49 days. The poems were all over the place, some about loss and love, some about woods, birds, trees, some silly, and some very serious. I did the writing faithfully every single day. The 49 days turned into more than a year of a daily practice. The poems are in my blog.

That was a healing practice for me. It gave me a purpose and the purpose was love-based. Having that kind of purpose at that time was so essential to me. It helped me to find a place to put all of that emotion. It was selfish, since at the time I never meant to share the poems. But eventually I did post them in my blog and I ended up using some of them on cards and collages.

Now I’m on Instagram and I notice people posting art or specific media with the title 100 Day Project. I haven’t really discovered much about those specific projects but I think that anything that encourages us to make pacts with ourselves can be healing. One hundred days is a big commitment. But isn’t that just what makes it meaningful? It could be a commitment to doing anything–meditating; recording in words or photos something that you find meaningful or inspiring; sending a note about whatever you’re grateful for to a friend who also sends theirs to you; making a small piece of art; taking a walk; listening to an uplifting podcast; doing a random act of kindness; calling a loved one to say how much you care about them. Or if politics is your thing, doing something, however small, for the cause you care about.

I’m still thinking about what my 100 Day Project will be, but it will be something. I am usually busy with some kind of project, anyway, but I’m due for a new one. Maybe sketchbook pages. Maybe random acts of kindness, with a recording of them in a notebook. My projects always seem to include pen and paper. Imagine that!

Shall we make a pact together? What might you do for yourself, for 100 days? It could be anything, great big or tiny, just a commitment to something positive. I’d love to know what you get up to.

“Whatever you do, be sure to do it well.”― Andrena Sawyer

“If you had started doing anything two weeks ago, by today you would have been two weeks better at it.”― John Mayer

“Freedom is not the absence of commitments, but the ability to choose – and commit myself to – what is best for me.”― Paulo Coelho, The Zahir

If you’re looking for my cards or art, you’ll find all of that on my website. And if you enjoy these letters, feel free to forward this one to anyone you think might like it. And if someone forwarded this one to you, you can sign up here to receive the letters right in your Inbox. Finally, you’ll find past letters and poems here.

Thanks for listening,
Kay

P.S. MerryThoughts is the name of my first book, out of print at the moment. The word is a British one, referring both to a wishbone and to the ritual of breaking the wishbone with the intention of either having a wish granted or being the one who marries first, thus the “merry thoughts.”