img credit: Kevin Dooley. via Flickr
The recession has been a crazy beast for the past three years, and don't let anyone kid you into thinking it's over.
That's a pessimistic line to deliver on what I hope to be an optimistic blog, but there it is. For people of my generation -- between 21 - 30 -- the world has changed so much we don't recognize it from the vision we were promised. Instead, we prospect for evaporated jobs, fear our tremendous student loans, and live in our parents' houses.
But even as we find ourselves with slimmer wallets and fewer opportunities, there is comfort. For the past three years I've cursed my circumstances. While cursing may be good for my health, the bitterness was not.
No more of that for for me.
The odd thing about these three years is that I've discovered all kinds of cheap and free pleasures, chances that are rife with goodness. Things that have waited patiently for me to discover them, others that have jumped into my lap and clawed for food.
Last night I decided to make a list. I took a piece of paper from an old drawer, put it up on my dingy plastic desk, and started to write. After five minutes, I had a list about fifty items strong. In another five minutes, the list grew by another forty five. And I look at the list now, and can think of at least a dozen others I've missed.
And then I thought, this bears sharing.
I know that the internet is full of a lot of verbal diarrhea. Much of it is from my own projects, that seem to sputter from the gate and never quite go anywhere. But I have confidence in this if only that this is happy writing. These things are precious, and they are meant to be shared.
I'm not sure if I want to call this my "letting go" project. I just want to write this to help others. Over the past few weeks, I've cataloged a few of my greatest pleasures, habits, hobbies and pursuits. If this inspires anyone, I'll be very happy.
