I feel like every time a new blog pops up on the Internet (maybe one of my close friends has decided to start writing about the daily struggles of being a college kid with less than thirty dollars in savings or a celebrity is posting pictures of food with a filter and discussing diet recipes) the first entry serves as an explanation. Why will I be writing about my life in the vain hopes someone will read about it? Why should you tune in weekly to skim whatever I’ve come up with? Why is my blog vastly different from all the other ones floating around?

I like to avoid things like this, but I sort of feel like if I am going to establish any kind of reader-base, I do need to tell people straight up why I have decided to jump on the blogging bandwagon.

Here’s what’s up: I am bored.

When I was in high school, I had a really fantastic sense of wonder about the world around me. I was so devoted to different bands and artists and got really obsessed with certain movies all for the simple reason that they inspired me. They made my heart stir. And I was always coming up with new projects for myself to continue my exploration. I was a curious person, always collecting quotes and memories and experiences to collage them into the person I wanted to become, and somewhere along the line in college, I think I just sort of stopped.

It’s hard to hold onto your best self in college. I get so caught up in school assignments and campus life and resume building (okay, not true, I get caught up in Netflix) that it’s hard to devote energy to anything else. But lately, I’ve really felt like my personal journey is in need of some attention. I’m not done growing yet. I want to break out of this standstill I’m in and force myself to fall back in love with the world around me. Maybe I’m a little late coming in on the blogging game, but here’s how I can justify it: this blog is here for me; I am not here for this blog.

So…I guess I’m not really sure what I’m going to do here on this little internet home I’m creating for myself. I suppose it’s going to feel like an experiment in mindfulness, in trying to appreciate every day that I wake up and search for inspiration everywhere I can.   You can expect all kinds of entries: self-reflective ones, recipe ones, craft ones, book reviews, maybe even a post or two written from the point of view of my Golden Retriever mix, Brer. I want to start examining my days a little more, saying ‘thank you’ more, savoring this life that we live, and I think starting a blog could be the answer. I found a really good quote on this yesterday that sort of made me want to start something like this:

“Above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.” –Roald Dahl from the book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Yes, it was something I saw on Pinterest (aka The Time-Eater), but I think you get my point.

I have a challenge for myself in the upcoming week. Feel free to join me, it shouldn’t be too difficult, I hope. Here’s my confession: I am really bad about filling my free time with TV. If I get home from class and I have a couple hours of nothing to do, I go from zero to couch potato in less than ten seconds. I’ve seen every single episode of The Office, 30 Rock, Gilmore Girls, Parks and Recreation, and Good Eats (though I don’t feel too guilty about this one because Alton Brown is a god among us) dozens and dozens of times. It’s not that I’m against TV. As you can infer, I love TV. It’s just that I’m curious to see what kinds of things I can do with that time that I waste re-watching an episode of Friends I’ve already seen six times before.

So here it is: The Seven Days Sans-Television Challenge

The rules are pretty simple. Starting today, Thursday November 12, every time I have the urge to watch TV, I will instead force myself to come up with a more dynamic way to spend that time, creating something or reconnecting with someone or writing this very blog you are reading now. Maybe I’ll feng-shui my room, or go to a yoga class, or actually read the $70 stack of books I brought home from Barnes and Noble last month that I haven’t had time to start yet… Maybe I’ll just get really angst-y and not know what to do with myself. But it’s part of the experiment in my efforts to be less of a lump.

I think that’s where I’m going to leave you for this entry. I’ll try to come up with something snazzier for the next one. I’m excited to start this process…I bet something really beautiful comes from it.