Bold Move at Any Age

Bold Move at Any Age by debgrant

• A five-year journal

  • I started one this year. These 5-year journals have one page per day. Each page is divided into 5 spaces…enough to write a few short sentences for each day of the year and then start the journal over again for four more years. The advantage is that it is simple and short. As I work through it, God willing, I can read where my head was a year ago.

  • Why is it bold? It is always a bold move for older people. Life expectancy in DE-creasing. This is true for school children, women in childbirth, and the rest of us. Why start what we may not finish? Because that is the story of our lives. The 5-year part is just a random number chosen by the 5-year journal publishers.

  • I decided to be bold. I started two 5-year journals in tandem.

    • In one, I choose to jot down any memory of the PAST that surfaced that day. A person, a place, a conversation, an event. My own little snapshot of my swiss-cheesy brain these days.

    • The other one is guided by a daily prompt offered by the journal publisher(Rustico) on each page - focused on the present - a mental selfie - based on a prompt like “A color I love right now” or “Someone who values my opinion.”

• I am a sucker for fine paper, leather journal covers, and fountain pens.

  • This gives me a daily fix for these obsessions.

  • The fountain pen, in particular, forces me to write more slowly, savoring the moment and the movement. The process of handwriting, I am told, is a good mental exercise. I like exercise that doesn’t require medication and a nap.

• Why does starting a 5-year journal matter?

  • The same reason it is good to plant a tree, the shade of which we may never see…because it is an act of defiance against decay. It boldly says TODAY is a gift in which we can choose to be alive with less fear, more hope, and something good.

  • God is good. Yesterday, today, and forever.

Peace,

deb