welcome to my 100 day project! i’ll be writing a bit each day, sometimes on the blog, and sometimes just in my journal.

i’ve never been one to set new year’s resolutions. but this year, i learned about a different approach. it’s about choosing a word or set of words to describe how i most want to feel throughout 2016. the idea is that if i keep these words top of mind, i’ll orient my days, actions and thoughts towards things, people, and experiences that invoke the desired feelings. kind of like “if you build it, they will come.”

after rolling many around like a scrabble game in my head, i’ve landed on two words: alive and clear.

alive. i want to consider my breathing. to physically move each day. laugh and play. notice my grey hairs when they catch the light. hear my heartbeat between chapters of good books. surge adrenalin for respectable reasons–like traveling, being in nature, and doing things that put me just on my learning and doing edge. watch my hands move as they cook up nourishing california produce or work some magic with my right brain and the hot glue gun of a crafternoon.

clear. with my thinking and my actions. to see things for what they are and recognize what my sphere of control is (and is not), and in this, to tolerate complications. and when opportunities arise, understand why i’m saying “yes” or “no” to the invitation.

if you want to do a 100-day project, i’d love to have company. and if you have words that set your 2016 on the best path for you, that can serve as a loadstar and be rubbed as talisman for when you most need a reminder of our human ability to renew and set intentions, please share them here too.

as my poppo used to say, i wish you good health and happiness for 2016. because you’re right, that’s pretty much all there is to it.

xom