Whenever I write anything, I almost always write the introduction last. I know where I want to go, and how I want to end but I can never figure out how best to start. I sit staring at a blank screen, typing and deleting over and over again, wondering how to begin. Eventually I skip straight to all the things I know I want to say and once it’s all written I go back and finish it off. The beginning just makes so much more sense when you already know the middle and the end. So it should’ve been no surprise to me that writers block hit as soon as thoughts of new year and new beginnings began to float around my head.
The truth is that sometimes I don’t know how to begin. I have dreams, I have goals, I have ambition. I want to do better and push harder and achieve more. And a fresh start, a fresh page, a fresh screen is often the push we need to start achieving these things. But at this exact moment the journey to all of my goals looks a little blurry. In fact I’m quite sure it’ll be a scenic route with pit stops and toilet breaks and a few wrong turns. I have no doubt that I’ll make it but I’m not quite ready to commit to how.
So I’m going to approach 2017 in the same way I approach my writing, starting with the end. Instead of resolutions I’ve made one promise to myself, and instead of writing a list of changes to make I’ve written a bucket list for the next 12 months. Things I want us to have seen, done and experienced together by the end of this year. And in January 2018 when I find myself in this same position I can come back to this post and write the beginning, about how we achieved it all, and how wonderful the journey was.
Our 2017 Bucket List
