Two Days into my 26th Year

I was always terrible at keeping a diary. I'd write in it every day for about a week, then the entries would get shorter, and then stop altogether. I think that is the normal life-cycle for diaries, but for a writer, that is a youth of which to be ashamed.

It seems my habits have not improved.

But I love having this silly blog to check back with after every few months and see how far I've come. I've been 26 for a little over a day now, and have been reflecting. I saw the movie version of Eat, Pray, Love yesterday with Julia Roberts - if you remember I started out this year by reading the book - so that sort of brought me full circle literarily. In terms of goals:

1. Lose 10 pounds.  I lost 15, and am still working on another 10, but I'm more fit than ever. Buff even.
2. Get and maintain a tan. Double Check. I didn't know I could be so gloriously brown.

3. Travel around the world to England, India and Japan. And traveled to San Francico and Seattle.

4. Get published in a magazine under my own byline (ghostwriting doesn’t count). - I wish I could cross this off, but I can't. I have pitched Seventeen Magazine, NPR's This American Life, and Westways magazine though, with no luck.

5. Become a journalist. (Nope) - With the journalism industry tied up in celtic knots, no one is getting in right now. But, I have it on good authority (from the Travel Editor of a major newspaper!) that I am doing everything right. I'm also excited to be writing for GlobalShift, a website that gives me the freedom to write about any cause I choose, and I'm putting out some very exciting, high quality work.
 
At least I can say that #4 and #5 weren't failed for lack of trying.
 
Other things have happened this year. I met a new writer friend in OC, who then promptly moved to San Francisco. I've become closer to two of my other writer-friends, one of whom got engaged, the other of whom got dis-engaged (un-engaged?). Basically, I have surrounded myself with immensely talented, wicked-smart people, which is absolutely heaven. And, I've come up with an idea for a website: AllWhoWander.
 
AllWhoWander will be the big project for the next few months. I've written the mission statement - essentially, a resource to help creative young people forge the path from college (or high school) to career. And we're getting the site, logo, and content together as I write this. I'm excited about it. It's a lot of work to start a website, especially one like this, but I and my friends are up to the task.
 
My freelance writing career is steadily growing. I make a little more money each month than the previous month, but it is slow-going. My goal for this next year is to increase income. In fact, I'll write myself another To Do List:
 
26th Year Goals
 
1. Increase Income.
2. Lose 10 more pounds, and gain 5 back (I just want to be my goal weight long enough to take pictures proving I was there - then I'd like to eat again).
3. Learn photography so my Nikon D5000 is second-nature.
4. Travel to Germany and the American South.
5. Create and maintain All Who Wander.
 
So far, as of day 2 of being 26, I think I have succeeded only in killing my indoor palm.
 
Last year began with such an enormous sense of relief, and a torrent of creative energy that was released as a result. I was giddy with it. Granted, it took me months to stop feeling like I had PTSD from that horrible horrible job, but after India, I was pretty well healed. Now I've had a year of being happy on a daily basis, almost feeling guilty about it because so few people have life this good. If my 25th year was about healing, re-energizing, and re-focusing, this year must be about using all of that energy and focus to accomplish goals and make great strides in my career as a writer.
 
Last year also began with a reading list. This year, I plan to study an author: Pico Iyer. My friend Miranda idolizes him, and I've been feeling disenfranchised from the writerly-intellectual community for not having read anything by him. And now that I've read through every single Sookie Stackhouse Chronicle, I think I'll have the time.