Pushing through

I’ve blogged seven days in a row. Yesterday, I had already run out of things to say. To keep going, I pulled a prompt from a reflection deck of cards, wrote for ten minutes, and published.

Today, I was tempted to just not post. But I know what happens when I don’t post: one day turns into two, then several, and next thing I know, I haven’t written in weeks because nothing seems worthwhile to write about, and even though I want to blog, the inertia of not-blogging is hard to overcome, and then it becomes a whole thing: do I blog? What will I say?

I figured today I’ll push through and post anyway, just to keep my momentum. I’ve got the energy and drive to publish, if not a topic. I’ll just put my keys on the keyboard and let them go.

This morning as I unloaded the dishwasher, I listened to the How to build a happy life podcast’s season finale, where they talk with someone from one of the world’s longest running study on happiness, with data going back to 1938. The study has followed people through all stages of life. The researchers have found patterns of what shows up for the happiest people. They’ve asked people at the end of life about their greatest regrets. I had to stop every couple of minutes to take notes, and the five main notes I took were these:

• Take care of your body like you’re gonna need it til you’re 100 (1st of 2 shared traits of happiest people).
• The happiest — and healthiest — people are the ones with lots of social connections, of all types, including intimate partners, friends, and work and casual relationships (2nd of 2 shared traits of happiest people).
• Maturity is marked by not pushing love away, whether through negligence or actively rejecting it. Love is most important thing, at all stages of life. Cultivate it, welcome it.
• As you age: stay engaged with the world. Garden, find community. Stay physically, intellectually, and socially active.
• Quote from Joseph Campbell: “If the path before you is clear, you’re probably on somebody else’s path.” Meaning, you’re likely following “shoulds” and others’ expectations, not your own. It’s okay and even good for the path ahead of you to be unclear.

I feel like there are topics here to explore more fully in future blog posts if I keep pushing through. If you’re also struggling to blog and these spark anything for you, I’d love to read what you have to say about them.