The Experiment – A 365 Day Search For Happiness

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Anonymous

And so the days of harvest time are here…

When I started this blog experiment 363 days ago I hoped with all my heart that I could keep up, I had ideas about what I hoped to accomplish, but as the year unfolded the only thing that mattered to me was that I show up, each and every day, no matter what, that I not “weary in doing good” but know that in the proper time, if I made it through the year, I would “reap a harvest.” And though I had a period with the hurricane of having had to delay the finishing of this project the day I had power back I started back in again and in 2 days time I will have finished this project and the harvest is so much bigger and more beautiful and more amazing than I know how to tell you. The richness, the colors, the depth of the blessings of the harvest of this first 365 days are immeasurable.

I had been drifting for years from one thing to the next. After the fire in 2014 I simply could not find my way. Big plans and dreams would well up in me but I didn’t have the wherewithal to carry through which left me feeling depressed, discouraged, and without worth or value. I felt as if my life would never amount to anything. Then in 2017 I suffered the worst depression I had had in years. I wasn’t sure I would be able to pull myself back from the brink. Finally after switching doctors and medications and getting a good system of support in place I began to look around and try to figure out what I might do. After joining in on a month long blogging project, and before that month was even up, I knew what I had to do. I had to do one thing, commit to one single thing, for one year, and see where it might be able to take me. I didn’t know what would happen but I had to do something.

It is not just those of us who have suffered from mental health issues that have trouble sticking with something. I see people all around me taking on too many things or flitting from one thing to the next never choosing one thing and going deep with it and unless and until you do you never find out who you truly are. Faced with a commitment to show up here every single day for 365 days what I learned was something that honestly I am still trying to understand. The first year I just showed up every day. This next year, along with showing up, I am going to be exploring what “the magic of 365 days” really is because there is magic here, deep magic, life-changing magic, and I don’t want to ever be without the way this makes me feel.

I am proud of myself. It feels good. And what it has given me is the knowledge that if I can show up here and do this I can also ____________. There have been a number of things I have been able to accomplish this year simply by learning that I can indeed be a person who sticks to something and gets things done. October 11, for example, I will have been on the ketogenic diet for 1 year. I have lost nearly 60 pounds and counting and feel better than I have in years. I haven’t been able to stick to any kind of diet in a very long time. I credit learning that I can show up for something and stick to it for finally gaining the confidence to take on other things I have long put off as well.

I am not going to tell people that they need to plunge into a 365 day project in order to change their life. There are many ways one can effect change, but at 64 I have not found another way that worked for me. Too, I am a writer and this is a natural avenue for me. It has worked for me because it is in my wheelhouse as the expression goes. If you feel that you too might like to explore what a 365 day blog journey can do for you I would be delighted to have you join me. We will begin this Friday. If you choose to join in with your own 365 day project you can, when commenting here on my blog, share a link to your own blog as well. You can tell us about your project, and along the way share how it is going for you. I would love for others who feel this might be a good fit for them to experience the magic too. It has been such a blessing in my life it would be wonderful to have companions on the journey in the year ahead.

For now, tonight, I am counting my blessings. It is autumn now, it is harvest time, and it is a beautiful harvest in my life despite everything else that is happening. This, too, matters. Amidst hurricane recovery and hard sad days this singular act of showing up to blog every day has changed my life and I believe will shape my future in positive ways. I am deeply grateful to have this to hold onto now. I hope, that if you feel it might be a blessing in your life, you might join me on the next year’s journey. I would love to have your company. It’s nice to not feel alone.