I can’t tell where the journey will end, but I know where to start

Joan Concilio |

I said before that I love fresh starts. I’m normally also big on analysis – looking back, taking stock, and trying to make sense of the things that were.

I’m struggling this year, because I don’t particularly need or want to look back at 2013. There were some amazing parts that I don’t need any amount of analysis to recall, and on the other hand, there have been some ridiculously bad ones that I don’t have any desire to relive.

So instead, I’m going to celebration the rebirth between years with some randomness that I think sums up a little bit about where I’m trying to go.

Cheesy pop song that sums up the end of 2013 and my hopes for 2014
The award goes to… “Wake Me Up” by Avicii. All this time I was finding myself, and I didn’t know I was lost. Pretty much repeating this song constantly the past few weeks to help me stay motivated to make the hard decisions I know I need to make.

Best non-tangible thing about 2013
New friends.

Best tangible thing about 2013
Earning my first-degree black belt.

Things I want to do in 2014
Earn my second-degree black belt.
Log all books I read in GoodReads.
Launch Unschool Rules. (That’sh actually supposed to happen, like, this week.)
Create and begin selling my first ebook.
Work with Ashar on some kind of master plan for unschooling high school.

Requisite thing I hate to put on the list for 2014 but will anyway
You guessed it: Lose weight, eat better, go to the gym, go to more tae kwon do classes.

Things I did in 2013 that will be hard to forget (good and bad)
Rode a mechanical bull.
Jumped off a three-story tower onto an airbag.
Spent way too many hours sitting in the hospital with my mom.
Went to a Christian music festival and a rap concert in a seedy bar in the same weekend.
Took the aforementioned black-belt test.
Remembered what it is like to look for a job.
Became the parent of a teenager.
As a freelancer/contractor, made more than I did at my previous full-time job.
Began identifying myself as an artist.

Fiction I read in 2013 that I thought was pretty cool
“Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline
“Off to Be the Wizard” by Scott Meyer
“The Silver Linings Playbook” by Matthew Quick

Coursera courses I took in 2013
Astrobiology and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life
Gamification
Archaeology’s Dirty Little Secrets
Video Games and Learning
Epidemics – The Dynamics of Infectious Diseases

Coursera courses I’ve already planned to take in 2014
Computer Networks
Introduction to Chemistry
History and Future of (Mostly) Higher Education
The Music of the Beatles
Live! A History of Art for Artists, Animators and Gamers
Fundamentals of Pharmacology
Children Acquiring Literacy Naturally

More songs I think everyone should listen to at this introspective time of year
“First of the Year (Equinox)” by Skrillex
“You Are More” by Tenth Avenue North
“Optimist” by David Byrne and St. Vincent
“The Boy in the Bubble” by Paul Simon
“Desdemona’s Building a Rocket Ship” by Jimmy Buffett

Thought I’m focusing on for 2014
I am worth it.