Day 3: Don't Look in the Mirror All Day

When you are through changing, you are through. ~Bruce Barton

**It's 9:30 am.  My daughter thought of this one. I've already screwed up twice because I forgot. How many times a day do we look in the mirror?  Never thought about it.  Not sure what I'm learning from this but I'm committed. I guess this will be a no make-up day.  Wish me luck. Going out to the gym and run errands. Hope I don't have peanut butter on my face from breakfast!

**It's 2:00 pm.  So far I'm failing miserably at the "no mirror" thing. I ran into "myself" three times at the gym. There are mirrors everywhere! I bet we look in the mirror 50 times a day. Is it vanity or insecurity? Probably both. 

Meanwhile, I'm realizing maintaining a blog like this is completely self-indulgent, liberating, and terrifying all at the same time. I feel like I'm peeling away layers of "public self" to reveal ....hmmm... a much more personal side, sans makeup, editing, prompter. It's raw writing. And I have no idea if anyone is reading this or I'm writing to myself.  Either way, it's interesting.

I have received emails inviting me to learn adult ballet, fly a plane, and be part of a civil war re enactment.  Got any ideas for me? Bring it.

**It's 5:00 pm.  I've concluded you have to be sick in bed or dead to avoid mirrors all day!

An Introduction to One Year of Firsts

One year of firsts….

When we are children, our lives are full of firsts: first steps, first grade, first wish, first kiss, first love. There seems to be an endless stream of “firsts”.

At some point, though, there are fewer “firsts”. We forget what it’s like to discover something new.

After a while we tend to lose our childlike curiosity, leaning more toward what we know and what we’re comfortable with. We order food that we know we like. We wear clothes that are the same style we’ve worn for years. We see the same people every day. Work is “Groundhog Day”. We vacation in the same place every year. We wrap ourselves in the familiar to avoid the discomfort of change. We attach ourselves to our habits, (good and bad), and our usual ways of doing things.

And then we stop growing.

We forget that “firsts” are like fresh air, fresh life. We forget that “firsts” are deliciously awakening. We forget how a “first” feels, the way your brain hums with satisfaction after a new experience.

And so I’m starting an experiment: a daily, yearlong experiment in search of “firsts,” large and small. Every day I promise myself I will seek a “first”. I will try to say yes to something I’d normally resist and reject out of fear of going out of my comfort zone. I will share with you what happens every day as I “first” my way through 2010.

I may need some inspiration and help, so please talk to me! Share your “firsts” with me. There are only a couple rules: 1) nothing self-destructive or harmful to others 2) a first can be something you haven’t done in over a decade. Let’s face it. If you haven’t ice-skated since you were a kid, doing it as an adult is like a first.

So here’s to firsts! One year of FIRSTS. Witness my FIRST entry to my FIRST real blog. Ha. One down. 364 Firsts to go.