Some stuff I wrote down last night while cleaning my kitchen

Happy New Year.

Last night I cleaned my kitchen the best it's been done since I moved into my house 4 years ago. In between rounds of scrubbing I thought about my life in its present condition - what I think I'm doing right, what I could be doing better - and scribbled those down as they occurred to me, in no real order, along with some goals for the year and years ahead. 

Maybe some folks will find them interesting or helpful. 

Things I think I’m doing alright:

I’m self disciplined

I am genuinely interested in Life and my participation in it

I have a manic relationship with creative pursuits

I regularly practice the acquisition of new skills

I strike a decent balance of being both patient with myself and at the same time, determined 

I read and write and play music everyday

I have courage

I try to be honest with myself about when I wrong others, or am taking a wrong course of action

I am at home with animals and children, and they with me

I am a pretty good cook, getting better

I do not worship money

I have good taste in books

I am quick to laugh, not at but with

Things that I could work on:

I could be a lot more self disciplined

I’m not very good with money

My posture isn’t the worst but it could be better

I’m not as patient with others as I should be

I do not know how to bring my life into better balance without it negatively affecting my creative output. Or maybe this is just a fear I need to let go of

I need to point the flashlight into the basement more often than I do, so as to see what it is that’s down there, and understand it better

I think of myself more than I think of others

I have a lazy heart

I probably drink a little too much

I am annoyingly industrious

I’m really hard on the people closest to me

I get carried away by my emotions

I want to pray more often, and more sincerely

I think I could be a lot more honest with myself

Need to brush my teeth more often and start flossing

I am bad about keeping in touch with friends when they are not in my immediate orbit

I take myself way too seriously 

Things I’m aiming at this year and Things I would like to see happen in the near future:

I would like my art and my life’s work to continue to be directed, internally, to the understanding and successful communication of myself, without vanity and with as little indulgence as possible; and externally, toward the fostering of a spirit of understanding among the many different people in my life, especially between liberal minded people and conservative minded people; to expand whatever there is in the world that could be described as being of a gentle and charitable spirit

Finish an excellent shooting script for Morse Code, produce it, and premiere it on a Netflix-level platform 

Release an album of 10 -13 songs from Morse Code, one song for each episode

Spend more time with my parents

Spend some time eating vegan 

Finish writing that feature script for the snake handling church 

Lose 5 lbs of fat, gain 10 lbs of muscle 

Finish the novel about China

Share my life with someone 

Remodel/fix the wackier parts of my house

Have 3 kids if it ends up working out

Get better at drop thumb clawhammer banjo

Buy a small ranch in Montana and keep horses

Get better at fiddle

Transpose all the songs I know on piano to Eb

I would like to increase in wisdom 

Keep a vigilant watch out for pride in myself in all its aspects

Hone my tools in writing and music and continue generating art that is meaningful to myself and others

A few things I’ve learned during my time on planet E :

Whatever you take, takes you

You cannot avoid taking something

You do however have a choice in the matter, so choose carefully

I am comfortable being alone. But I am maybe too comfortable being alone. 

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God

If you stop drinking water two hours before you go to bed, you won’t have to get up in the night to pee

Life will reveal you