Challenges

Exactly a year ago today I was sitting right where I am sitting now, breathing oxygen through a hose up my nose. I had been released from the hospital that morning after having been treated for about a week for Covid-pneumonia. I am glad to have been given the chance to make it home. So many with Covid have not.

But, I feel that having Covid, and the long time it took to recover, derailed my 2021. Sure, I got plenty accomplished, such as my book of poetry, and my wife and I even went on a vacation to Michigan, but I certainly didn’t start last year how I wanted to.

2022 is different. I feel energized with possibility, and with ambition, for the first time in a very long time. Moving forward with the momentum from Whiskey Poetry, and with the realization that I can accomplish anything I put my mind to, I am ready to be challenged with more.

Challenge. That is my word, my mantra, for 2022. I want to challenge myself to continue, to move forward, to accomplish, to succeed. To do. And I have a few ideas for challenges. A few are already in motion.

1. Photography

I have already begun a 52 week photography challenge. The idea is simple: take one photo every week, all year. I took the first photo a few days ago at the end of 2022 week one. 51 more to go! I found a website called Dogwood Photography that has 52 weeks of ideas and prompts already in place, and I am somewhat loosely following that plan. I am really excited to do this! I tried a similar project a few years ago, but never quite finished. I would really love to complete the challenge this year.

2. Reading

I want to read 12 books this year, novels or non-fiction. I have a bunch of novels that I received over Christmas, or that I have purchased recently, including a few old books I haven’t read in a long time. Among them are J.R.R. Tolkien’s Beren and Luthien and The Fall of Gondolin which I have never before read. I also have a list of recommended books that I’ll need to check out of the library. Either way, I want to read one book every month this year. I need to get started, too, as we are already 10 days in! This is in addition to the Art of Star Wars… books that I have been purchasing and reading through. I am not counting those because they are, of course, art heavy and reading lite, but they are delightful to page through.

3. Writing

My wife started writing a book last year, a “how-to” on the writing process. I began to help her flesh out ideas and bulk up sections, but got sidetracked and never finished my part of the book. I want to pick that up and take it to completion, at least to where she can do her bit and maybe we can self-publish it. I think it would be fun, and another big accomplishment to have that done. I also want to continue writing here on my blog, where I have been somewhat consistently writing two posts a month. That seems sustainable and easy enough. Excelsior!

4. Crafting

I have three projects that I have picked up this year. First is a picture book. When my sister’s first daughter was a year old, I made her a photo album chronicling her first year. Now she acquired a second daughter and wants her to have a first year photo album, too. I am happy to oblige.

Second, my mother has hundreds of photos from my childhood, her childhood, and whatnot, that need to be digitized. We plan to buy a scanner and I will scan them and archive them. I expect that both of these projects will take some months to complete.

Third, I would like to continue my own painting, making, and crafting. I don’t want to lose any of the momentum that I have built over the past two years doing things in the newness of the challenges I have listed for 2022. To that end, with some Christmas money, I bought two Bandai model kits: a 1:12 scale Mandalorian and a tiny scale Razor Crest. Those will be only my second and third ever model kits, but I am excited to build them.

It will take some daring and scheduling legerdemain to pull these challenges off, but I think it is possible. Like I said at the top, I feel energized and ready to go. I know it will be difficult, that my depression will hinder me. I know that real life will often intrude, but that is what makes all of these challenges. Without that, it would be easy, and I probably wouldn’t bother. Let’s see how this goes!

What challenges have you made for yourself this year? Maybe you call them resolutions, or something else, but what are you hoping to achieve in 2022? Let me know, I’d love to hear from you.