Hijinks & Shenanigans

It's been a wild and raucous barrel of laughs this week, which is why I've been so scarce around here. My father, his wife, my two sisters, and both of my brothers and their wives descended to Asheville from Tampa, Florida, South Bend, Indiana, Charlotte, NC, and Norfolk, VA respectively earlier in the week. We've been painting the town red ever since. 

There has been some hearty chuckling, some ravenous eating, some glass clinking, and lots and lots of back rubbing (for which my family is infamous; get to know us and eventually you'll get your back rubbed, too-it's an initiation right). There has been some tepid hot tub soaking (Hot Springs Spa might want to consider a name change). There has been some big house viewing. There has been some youtube watching. Today, there will be some brunch feasting, followed by some neighborhood gazing (I'm trying to convince the parentals that Asheville is where it's at). 

I wish you all a year filled with the best of everything. My big learning curve this past year, and what I carry with me into the new one, is that, cliche as it might sound, you really can do anything you want. You have to start small, of course (this blog is named "small measures" because I'm a huge proponent of their accrued value). You have to start sensibly (if you want to win the lottery, stop praying that you one day might without doing anything about it and go ahead and pick up a Powerball ticket from the gas station). And, of course, you have to start. My girl Jenna said it perfectly over at Cold Antler Farm (check out "One Hour Better" from this past Monday): "If everyone could just see the day as 24 chances to make their life a little better, imagine the resolutions that could be met? I try to be an hour better, every hour, and hope those choices add up into something I can grasp with both hands." 

I've learned that, if I want to be a full-time, stay-at-home writer, I've got to start writing from home, full-time. If I want a voice in the design world that rubs shoulders with the homesteading and environmental lifestyle worlds, I've got to get in touch with people already pursuing those paths. If I want to dabble in a fiction book series (I'm SERIOUSLY stirring the pot of creative ideas these days, folks), I've got to start writing it, developing and naming characters, and researching my plot line. If you want something, anything, really, start chinking away at achieving it. Chances are, it won't happen instantly. It might not even happen quickly. But, over time, with small measures everyday, it'll happen.