6 Months

Today is September 1st, 2008.

A lot has changed since I last posted on here some 6 or 7 months ago. The WEIGHT LOSS CHALLENGE™ didn't get much farther than what you can see. Shortly after that post I got hired as a production worker at a Steak n' Shake just down the block from my college. The Go Club meetings went well and I attended a couple. I've lost touch with the host since then and no longer attend. I am no longer enrolled in UCO and now live at home. I guess "dropped out" is the more popular term. My last day at Steak n' Shake is in 2 days.

If you asked me what I was up to these days, I would tell you that I am pursuing a career in art so that I may one day work in the game industry doing what I enjoy. Though, what I would mean by that is that I am currently spending too much time playing video games, spending money faster than I can earn it, and too little time (none) practicing actually drawing.

We all have to grow up some day. Maybe this is one of those days. It's interesting having all these blogs that I have crafted over the years, and to be able to look back and see them just vanish, like magic. All that hope and potential, building up and heading somewhere, anywhere, but then just like that, gone without a word. I guess I just haven't learned yet that this is my future I am throwing away. I am in control and I'm driving myself straight off a cliff.

This post is already more depressing than I intended! But, it's really a happy post. This is my new last stand. My comeback into the world! I am older now, and wiser. It's amazing how much you can learn in just half a year. Some days you just wake up, and you realize how different it feels to be you. You just, suddenly and abruptly realize: A change has taken place here. It's hard to notice these things when you're drifting along without a cause or goal in life.

I've been planning this resurgence for some time, though. I don't know why my random inspirations tend to pop up near the start of new months though. Probably some kind of psychological thing. A feeling of rebirth, starting over. But it's not starting over at all. I need my past mistakes to build on and gain momentum from. There are no magical gates, just walls in my head. Walls that barricade me, like a maze. My habits, my preconceived notions, all of them mesh into a complex and difficult maze. But it's all a construct, a lie. Imagined into existence. They aren't real.

Once you can ignore the walls, progress is easy.

Just do it. Do it even if you don't want to. Do it even if you don't think you CAN do it. Wait, what am I doing?

THE PLAN (so far)

Every day I will draw for 30 minutes, + the time it takes to complete any goal's I have set for myself in the calendar.

Every day I will practice the piano for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Every day I will plan for the day ahead, organize my thoughts, and generally clean up my life in whatever ways I can to prepare for the road ahead.

Every day I will finish goals as set forth by the calendar.

THE CALENDAR

The calendar is the true blood of this operation. (thus it gets it's very own bold title text!) The idea to map and actually PLAN for the future is surprisingly a totally new concept for me, and I think it is something I've needed for a very long time. I have purposefully made my calendar easily accessible and readily available. (More on this on Thursday's post, "Desktop Tour")

Every goal I add to the calendar will be openly available for public viewing, as can be seen on the right hand bar of this blog. (Click the link under the calendar for a more user friendly view.) Every goal listed will correspond to a post, each with a description to let you know of what is to come.

THE FUTURE

The future? Well, just look, it's all written out in front of you. Now grab it, and make it a reality.