A Wednesday list...

1. It's Wednesday! I'm writing a list! We're done bushwacking and have found the trail again. (which reminds me of the time we were backpacking with some friends, and Jeremy was guiding us, and the trail guide he was using was old enough that the "trail" we were following hadn't actually been a trail in a long time. Since Jeremy is great at navigating using a compass and a map, we managed to find our way just fine, but I'm pretty sure a few members of our party thought we were going to end up lost in the woods forever.

2. Do you set New Year's Goals? I was feeling ambitious this year in my goal-setting, and naturally I'm feeling zero inclination to hit the ground running this week. However, since I've learned to approach New Year's Goals with a long-term view (i.e., I've got 12 months to make progress!), I can avoid most stress surrounding typical New Year's resolutions. This year it also helps that most of my goals involve just diving into or making forward progress on existing habits/activities/projects/relationships, etc. My word of the year is "deeper," and it's really the idea that I need to dig in where I'm at.

3. One of my goals has to do with working on doing freelance writing/editing work. The past few months I've been looking for work mostly the way one looks for a traditional job, but I think I've been a bit to scattershot with my approach. I can do anything! For anyone! Give me a chance! So, I'm going to try and focus a little bit -- who do I want to seek out and approach, and how can I hone my skills a little bit more specifically in that area. For example: do I want to focus on trying to find academic clients? Clients in the medical field? Book authors? Business clients who need copy editing of marketing or web materials? Etc., etc. I can hone my skills in  those specific areas (relevant style guides, etc). I haven't quite figured out my focus, but knowing what my next step is helps.

4. A reader friend asked me a few days ago what I'm most excited about reading this year. I couldn't answer on the spot, because my memory (of what books are coming out this year) isn't great, but my initial response was -- my bedside stack. There's a stack of books (three short stacks, to be precise) of books I've been given or picked up at used book sales or Half Price Books, and I'd love to actually dive into them and make some progress there. It's slow going - partly having small children and partly now that I'm doing the reader reviews -- but maybe by the end of the year I can at least half the stack(s).

5. Last but not least, here's a link to short article I found really thought-provoking and insightful about what it means to live a quiet life (such as that described by Paul in I Thessalonians 4:11-12 (..make it your ambition to lead a quiet life...) and why that's so important and yet often counter-cultural.