Remember, Remember the 1st of November

November has finally arrived. Not only is it my favorite month of the year, it’s also my birthday month.

I was thinking about all of the things that I could do for my birthday and I settled on making November my month of structured writing. While that might not sound like an exciting birthday gift, I wanted something memorable for myself and this is what I settled on. I wanted something I could come back to at anytime to remind me of things that I had put off but was ready to get back to.

I’m committing to writing on my blog once a day for the entire month of November. Some things I might share over at my Substack, some will stay right here. I got the idea while considering doing a Daily 10 again and reading other Instagram posts I consistently did one month. Those were interactive with other people but these… are more personal.

As I enter my 46th year of life, I want to do more of the things I love and I want to spend more time around things I love. The two things that kept popping up was writing and books. I’ve been doing volunteer work at one of the local libraries because books keep me in such a calm place mentally. All I’m doing is re-shelving books but I don’t have to talk to anyone (unless someone needs help finding a book) and I get to read book jackets of literature I never even knew existed. I’m on my feet the entire time but I experience no pain in my hands, feet, back, or knees. I’m not tired from walking back and forth; I actually get an immense amount of energy while I’m re-shelving and once I’m done.

This is the simplicity of life I miss.

When I was a kid, I used to spend all day at the library reading books until it was time to walk back home. I read about religion, sex, science, and the brain… I also read my fair share of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. I read anything and everything I knew I couldn’t openly read at home. As an adult, I still feel that childish excitement of learning something new but there’s the comfort of knowing anything I want to check out can come home with me.

I don’t know how this relates to my dreams of opening a bookstore but I feel like this volunteer work is pushing one step closer to a dream fulfilled. Even the people within the library are a breath of fresh air; they’re not concerned about celebrity gossip, making small talk, forcing me to be like them, or anything else that I have to deal with outside that’s part of daily life. The library reminds me that as I enter this 46th year of life, I still have space to do the things I really want to do.

So that’s what the 30 days of November will be devoted to… doing what I want to do, when I want to do it, as much as I can do it. Here’s to these next 29 days making it possible for me to live the other 11 months of the year in the same way.