I’ve realized (although this
probably does not come as an astonishing revelation to anyone) that it’s
popular to take on year-long “self-improvement" projects. I’ve read many of the slightly
older books outlining these endeavors, such as Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, in which Gilbert travels to
three different countries over the course of a year to figure out what she
wants; and The Happiness Project by
Gretchen Rubin, in which Rubin spends a year trying to improve her life and
attempt to, well, figure out happiness. I haven’t read Julie and Julia, an account of an author stuck in a dead-end job
who finds her escape by cooking 524 Julia Child recipes within the span of a
year, but I did see (and enjoy) the movie. There are others, but those three are
(perhaps?) the most popular.
I’ve wanted to attempt my own
happiness/self-improvement project, but have been unsure of quite how to do so.
Cooking hundreds of Julia Child’s recipes isn’t really my thing (although I do
enjoy cooking and baking to a certain extent), and I lack the ability to travel
overseas for a year for many reasons – time, money, a job, and a newborn baby
being the most obvious. I found an article called Eat, Pray, Spend (linked here:
http://bitchmagazine.org/article/eat-pray-spend) which categorizes these books
about self-improvement projects as “priv-lit” since, let’s face it, these
year-long improvement projects are expensive and, for most “ordinary” people,
unrealistic. The Eat, Pray, Spend post states that: “If more women become
willing to put aside their fears, open their eyes to cost-free or inexpensive
paths to wellness, and position themselves as essentially worthy instead of
deeply flawed, priv-lit could soon migrate to a well-deserved new home: the
fiction section.” This sentence struck me. While I don’t necessarily begrudge
those who are able to tackle expensive, time-consuming year-long
self-improvement projects (let’s face it, if I had the resources to travel the
world for a year, I’d be packing my suitcase right now - and so would you), I feel as though there must be a better way to
find happiness, zen, self-improvement… whatever you want to call it. We
shouldn’t have to spend a ton of money traveling, or live in a comfortable,
cushy New York apartment to feel as though we can improve ourselves. Which
brings me to my idea for my own “year of self-improvement.”
I tried to think of something I
really enjoy that doesn’t cost a lot or take a lot of time. Topping the list
was a morning coffee ritual. Even on days when I am in a rush to get to work, I
love pausing for a moment before leaving the house and inhaling the aroma of a
good cup of coffee (or tea!). I find closing your eyes and breathing in the scent
of coffee while holding the warm mug between both of your palms to be a very
calming experience. So, for the next year, I’m
going to spend 5-10 minutes every morning drinking a cup of coffee or tea and reflecting
on things that make my life better, ways to learn more about those things, and
ways to incorporate them into my life. The end-goal is not to “fix myself”, but
rather to have a better understanding of what kinds of things I enjoy, what
kinds of issues matter to me, and how I can better structure my life around those
things and issues. My plan right now is to choose one topic per month and spend
my morning coffee-time reflecting on and learning more about that topic.
This project is a work in progress,
and I would welcome any feedback on how ways to make my year of
self-improvement worthwhile. Just remember, the idea here is to keep things cheap
and not incredibly time consuming so that you don’t have to have a fat savings
account to participate. (Also, although the priv-lit article focuses on women,
this project isn’t intended to be gender specific at all – it’s something men
and women can do!)
This blog title, Coffee Beans and
Dreams, is recycled from when I was a very tired, very broke law student. I used to tell myself that I could make it as long as I had coffee (read: caffeine) and kept
focused on my dreams. It seems an appropriate title for this project as well.
Here I go… a year of coffee beans
and dreams. Let’s see where it takes me!
Xoxo,
Diana
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