New Life Project

I have been über hesitant to write this post recently, because it means that I actually have to follow through on this. But, I have decided that with my new big girl life in my new city that I should bite the bullet, as my mother says (what does that even mean?) and do it.

I, over the next two but no more than three years have decided to undertake a reading project. After reflecting on my reading choices over the summer, a sampling of which included "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Everyone Worth Knowing", I decided that I was doing myself a huge disservice by setting my intellectual bar too low. Now, don't misunderstand me. These books are all great - in fact, I need a light, quick read as much as the next person. But, my reading subsistence as of late has consisted of only these kinds books. I like to think of it as an intellectual diet of fats and sugars with very little green vegetables. We know what a diet like this does to the body - and I have now decided that I will not stand by and allow this to happen to my mind. Just like my body feels after a long absence from the treadmill, so I expect my mental hamstring and quad muscles to rebel at first.

The insane idea to start this project happened after seeing someone's facebook status with "The Best 100 Books of All Time" listed. I wish I could remember who this person is so that I could thank them and send them something REALLY interesting, like Crime and Punishment. I kid... but seriously, after doing some research through various lists and compilations, I settled on a user-voted list compiled by a website called www.best100novels.com. I know, very original. On many of the other websites, the vastness of the reading lists were intimidating (and I admit, the thought of reading the Iliad and the Odyssey again are beyond my current intellectual scope (think running a marathon after a decade of couch-potato-ness)). The jury is still out on some of the selections that I will read - indeed, some of the things I'm going to read are outright terrifying to me (see: War and Peace). Thankfully, others excite me (The Hobbit and the Time Traveler's Wife), and some, I have confessedly never heard of before (Madamé Bovary).

All together, after taking a poll on facebook about where I should start my journey, I decided on Slaughterhouse Five. I visited Moe's bookstore last week in Berkeley, and bought a lot of great books for super cheap. Amongst them included, the aforementioned, the Hobbit, Madamé Bovary, and Of Human Bondage. I realized today as I started to peruse through the books that I got the abridged version of 'of Human Bondage', which will definitely not do for this project. I know that I'm just one abridged version away from completely avoiding the longer books, so I have decided not to read any abridged versions at all. This, of course, will add time, but I think it will make for a better reading experience. In any case, as it is SO late tonight, I've decided to start tomorrow. That's the spirit! Procrastination!

But, seriously, as I go along with these books, I hope that I will be challenged, inspired, and stretched in ways that I haven't been before. I'll be keeping this blog (hopefully regularly) to reflect on what I'm reading. I will likely read a couple of books at a time (because I have no idea how I'd crank out Tolstoy without some other form of written encouragement alongside it). Hopefully some people will read these blogs and comment, because I know that my opinion is only that. Mine. I'd love to hear what others think about these books, and clearly people have opinions. They didn't get voted the 100 best novels for no reason, now, did they?

New things all around

I'm starting a new job next week. Which terrifies me. And excites me all at the same time. I've been trying to figure out what I'm doing with my life for about the past two years, and this is the point that I've come to. I'm going to be the director of Junior High ministries at a medium sized church in California. I'm excited. And terrified. Did I say that already? So much of what I think about myself, my skills, talents and so on tell me that I'm prepared for this. I've done internships, read books, and think I know what I'm doing. But, what if I get in there and totally bomb? See, it's these kinds of thoughts that drag me down lately. Fear. This is a word that we are all accustomed to in one form or another. But fear isn't intended for us. Fear is not what we (Christians) are supposed to be led to feel. Fear is derived from a lack of trust, and more specifically a lack of trust in the one who will never leave us. Looking on my life at times, I feel like I have the biggest safety net ever, with harnesses, helmets, pads, arms to catch me, love me, and support me, yet I am unable to jump. Is it our human mentality that causes us to fear, or something else? I'm not sure, but I know that I need to leap - to get over the things that scare me and just do it!

I have a lot of changes happening in my life these days. Moves from Denmark to the US, moves from Texas to Phoenix to California, serious relationships, changes in family dynamics, decisions about careers and choices about life. These things should all be impacting me in a serious way, yet I feel frozen. Maybe it is because I've been too afraid to leap out into something that I can't tangibly see or feel or touch. Maybe its because my mind hasn't caught up with my newly free-spirited heart? All I know is that it is about time I give myself a good kick in the butt and get out there. I will never know until I try....