Hello yet again! I'm rather sure I don't have any readers anymore, but any that have stuck around have probably noticed that 4 out of 5 of the last five posts have pointed to the new website, where I never really quite got around to regularly establishing a blog. Welp, I've decided that it's really not worth the effort and will just use this in hopes of actually writing more.
Now, what will I be writing about? Well as always a rambling hodgepodge of this and that and tit for tat, but for January at least I plan on documenting some of the larger changes I've decided to make in my life. These changes are quite possibly unimportant and potentially meaningless but also have the potential for great meaning and vast import. I'll document the changes below and explain why I *think* they may well have meaning.
First off I've largely decided to give up on social media (Facebook/Twitter). For the most part I have nothing against either of them. They're excellent means of communicating for some people and can really be really useful in their own ways I suppose. However, what was *I* using them for? I don't have a good answer for that. Mostly I just scrolled meaninglessly down my feed in the hopes of finding something worth looking into, which usually took the form of something I found funny for one reason or another. On rare occasions I would find something that I really wanted to talk about. And would then get involved in an argument in the comments with, typically, random strangers. And you know what they say about arguing with random strangers on the internet... That said I will be leaving my Facebook account in place as I use Facebook messenger on my phone and there are some people I only communicate with through that medium that I don't want to lose track of, twitter on the other hand should be gone in 30 days and will free up that username for someone else to use and abuse. Oh, and I looked up my ancient MySpace account, agreed to the new terms and agreements that they put in since I last logged in, and then deleted it as well.
Next up I've decided not to play video games when my wife is awake or when I have a school assignment due within the next 7 days. There are a few exceptions to the rule about not playing when my wife is awake. First it doesn't count if she's in another state or country, second it doesn't count if I'm playing the video game with her or as part of a party she's at (IE: Rockband at a friendly get together), and third Clash of Clans doesn't count (for now) as she plays it and it "requires" regular attention. I'm still working on how I feel about Clash of Clans not being banned, but for now her and my brother both play it and if I'm going to play it you kinda need to play throughout the day...so yeah, we'll see if it stays unbanned or if I just give up on it, or maybe learn about moderation (ha!).
Finally I plan on doing a new and interesting thing with my reading (whether Biblical, educational, or fiction) and start writing a chapter summation for each chapter I read. This summation will be at least 1 paragraph consisting of 3 sentences at minimum, and it will convey something meaningful about the passage. The main 3 areas I plan on writing about are how the passage made me feel, what it taught me, how it applies to my life, a combination of those, or something else if it strikes a nerve. My summation will be written before I read the next passage of that type, so I have to write about Psalms 7 before Psalms 8 but not necessarily before I read a chapter for my school homework. There are 3 main purposes to this reading/writing plan.
- First it forces me to remember what I just read in a meaningful way so as to explain it to others.
- Second it will help me learn to write about ideas quickly.
- Third but not least it will push me to consider what I read and think more critically about what I choose to read, especially with fiction (I sometimes skim crass parts of a book and look back at it thinking it was all sunshine and roses when there was some trashy stuff in there).
Some of those summations may wind up on this blog if I think they're particularly profound, but most will probably just get filed away for future reference in case I ever wonder what I thought about the second chapter of the first book of the Wheel of Time series...yeah...
Well I think that's about it for now, except to note that none of this actually has to do with new years resolutions so much as noticing issues I want to change in my life and using lessons I learned in ALS (which I graduated on 17 Dec) to help address them. Please feel free to comment, question, or request that I give you my bank account information so I can help you get your funds out of Nigeria before the latest evil regime steals it in exchange for a moderate cut of your vast wealth.
~joe
