The daily act of living is the act of chiseling destiny through choice — from the bedrock of all possible lives we could have had, we sculpt with our choices the one life we do have. Those choices can be difficult or easy, conscious or not, made for us or made by us, but whatever their nature, they require a leap into the unknown . . . Because every life is an act of self-creation, such is the job of each one of us, whether or not we self-identify as artists.
~Maria Popova
October highlights
- celebrated Ellie’s 11th birthday
- flu shot + COVID booster
- brunch with SF friends visiting PDX
- continued exploring Portland + surrounding areas by foot and car
- visited SO many food carts
- canceled Eugene weekend + eclipse viewing due to weather
- a very cold weekend visit to Bend
- shared more about life on new substack — even ordinary
- worked on improving my Spanish
- calls + texts with friends and family
- completed a budget overhaul
- saw + walked in snow
- built a spooky gingerbread house
- enjoyed my first real autumn since moving to California
- got used to (sort of) start of the PNW rainy season
- continued daily reflection/five-year journal
- flowers from the hubs
- finished Gilmore Girls + Only Murders in the Building
- started new season of The Great British Bake Off and Loki
- started Ramy + Hello Tomorrow
- cooked many yummy recipes
- enoyed a bed day snuggling with Ellie (wasn’t feeling well)
- ran/walked 38.9 miles
- 39 workouts/16+ hours (runs, strength, walks, hiking, stretching)
- Peloton milestones: surpassed 12k annual minutes; 500 walks
- one Trajectory of Life post; two even ordinary posts
November intentions + looking forward
- continue exploring Portland + surrounding area
- take in the beauty that is autumn in Portland
- halfway point of our PDX adventure
- explore Seattle
- spend time with family for Thanksgiving holiday
- spend time with a good friend during work travels to Texas
- read two books
- continue even ordinary substack posts
- explore contributing to EX online community
- make progress on Spanish lessons
- finish one section of investing class
- begin goal to memorize one of my favorite poems
- get back to daily/weekly/monthly habit tracking
- continue daily reflection/five-year journal
Open tabs
- a wonderful poem
- appreciation for vaccines
- did your favorites make this list?
- the nones are rising as the Christian population declines
- simple changes to improve your life
- be a tourist in your own city
- currently reading (and loving) one of the books on this list
- getting it wrong
- looking for instant relaxation
- bring back boredom
- as someone with a strong sense of over-responsibility, this one really hits home
- while one country is on fire
- why you should spend time with trees
- this was touching
trajectory of a life 
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