This Saturday, September 23rd, we start the countdown to the last one hundred days of 2023.
One hundred days left of this year. A little over three months.
When I heard this, my first thought was: What could I do, make, or build in the next one hundred days to move my life forward?
What project, tended to for the next one hundred days, would amp my vibe, and make me feel happier, more creative, and more alive?
What habit or practice, could I start now and keep doing for the next hundred days that would give me a small but definite jolt of accomplishment on New Year’s Eve?
This next hundred days is the season Kurt Vonnegut calls Locking. It’s the season when nature starts dimming the lights at 4:30 in the afternoon, and you need gloves, a hat, and chapstick to survive.
I struggle with this time of year, and I’m not the only one.
After the leaves do their thing, it’s uh-oh time. Serious gloom begins to descend.
My prana plummets.
But unlike Punxatawney Phil, I can’t just crawl into my little burrow, read books, watch Netflix, and eat carbs until the guys in the top hats arrive.
Even though that is massively appealing.
No. I have to make dinner, teach yoga, hold up my piece of the sky, and contribute to the hive.
I can’t just tap out. I need to feel creative, disciplined, and like I’m walking some path.
Nature is free to go dormant, but I still have to figure out dinner, teach yoga, and steer this ship through the holidays.
So, for most of the day, I’ve been thinking about what I might do in these last hundred days of the year.
It has to be something I look forward to each day, not dread.
It also has to be able to be done in cold, shitty weather. So preferably, inside.
Thanksgiving and Christmas also have to be negotiated during this stretch.
It has to be something I could even do on Christmas Day without feeling like a martyr.
There’s this Instagram I saw recently showing hikers in dusty boots, cutting up steep switchbacks, overcoming rock obstacles, panting, and sweating.
The voiceover goes:
“Omy Fucking hell, Jesus Christ, Omg, Fucks sake, Omg, Fuck, there’s more, Fuuuuck. Not another one. Omg.”
Then, at the end, there’s a long pan shot of the spectacular view from the top.
Voiceover:
“Wow.”
“I love hiking.”
This Instagram reminded me that there wil be days of Omg,
Fucking hell,
Not another one,
Jesus Christ, etc.
There will be days when I will not feel like doing it –no matter how easy it is or how pleasurable. But if I do it anyway, no matter what else happens, I’ll win the persistence trophy.
Which is the whole point.
Because as the Zen people say, “Goal is Path. Path is Goal.”
The point is to devote myself to the process, and simply persist.
I am sitting here still undecided about what to do.
I’m definitely doing something. I know that.
I have until Saturday to decide. I’ll let you know next week.
Does this prospect of facing down the last hundred days of the year have you thinking about something you might want to do?
Let me know in the comments. I would love some inspiration here.
And again, thanks for reading.
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Love, Kath
Inspiration Location 