MAY 22: Today I turn 52, and to celebrate, I’m gifting myself the time to do one new thing a week for the next 52 weeks.
I am fond of celebrations inspired by age. To mark 45, I rented an apartment for 45 days in the Marais – one of my favorite places on the planet – and filled it with the best of friends and family and a steady diet of wine, cheese and long walks. This would become my birthday signature, I declared: 50 days in Tokyo! 55 days in Rome! 60 days in Buenos Aires! 100 countries before 100! But work and life don’t always cooperate, and the day I turned 50, I was sitting with colleagues in Bangalore traffic silently suffering an outbreak of shingles.
This year will be different.
As I age, I have to dig deeper to push beyond the familiar. Friends call me adventurous, and I have instigated some wild moments. The secret truth is, I like my comfort zone. Each day, I battle the sloth in me who falls so easily into the rhythm of routine. I also battle the wanna-be writer in me who – because of said routine – excuses her way out of writing.
Marry those two forces and out pops this idea: 52 new things to discover AND a weekly blog about it all.
This project is not a natural act. I’m a reluctant sharer, mostly introvert, doer not inventor and below-average storyteller. On the flip, I’m curious, energetic and accountable, and I need to see where this takes me.
You’ll find my posts here, newest on top of course. Let me know what you think … and thanks for being my witness for the next 52 weeks.
Jayme