I read Ross Gay's The Book of Delights to give to my grandmother for this past Christmas, making notes on some of the pages, and I was impressed by his commitment to write a (short) essay - with the focus of joy, or, well, delight - every day for a year. I thought, wow, what a great idea. But did I think I could do it? Questionable, and I never seriously considered it.
And then, today, I turned 20. My grandma sent me the first page of Ross Gay's collection, in which he explains his endeavor, on which I had written "great idea" in the margins. My Dada's accompanying message said "Your day to start!"
Now, to be honest with myself, I can't imagine I will keep up with this every single day, especially when I'm back to my classes and UMass festivities. But here and there, a few a week? That, I think, I can do. There's certainly many benefits of setting aside a few minutes per day. I look at everything I write as practice.
Maybe the motivation for these little changes I'm hoping to make - getting back into my daily yoga, eating a salad everyday, writing these essays - stem from the start of my 20s. My 20s feels terrifying. A whole new decade, and a major one, one where a lot can change.
I think these essays will begin to focus on more minor things eventually. But today, the transition from 19 to 20, teenager to no-longer-a-teenager, has me thinking about the big picture. And with these major changes and the fear that results from them, there is also a lot of excitement, a lot of joy. Back to UMass. 6 weeks in England. A house with my best friends.
And hey, a year until 21!
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