It certainly has been an interesting couple of months, hasn’t it?  2017 has brought a lot of changes that perhaps many would not have predicted, and so far we’re only one very slow-moving month in.  So much is up in the air.

The past month hasn’t seen many changes in my specific purview besides another birthday come and gone.  In the wider scope of my family, there have been some interesting developments.  Mom had a milestone birthday (am I freaking out about that more than she is?  Maybe) and my grandfather spent time in the hospital and is currently in physical rehab.  He’ll be 90 in April (think about all the changes he’s seen!). There’s talk of “what’s next” for my grandparents as their capacity to do all the things they used to do has diminished.

What changes do I plan for my life this year?  There are so many things I’ve intended to do and still haven’t done (see also:  my non-existent freelance writing/editing career).  I do intend to travel more, even if it’s just micro-trips and long weekends.  I haven’t travelled out of state in almost a year.  In the next week I intend to go to a museum in DC, something I haven’t done in ages.

As far as this blog goes…I’ve been doing this for ten years.  TEN.  YEARS.  (I feel really old saying that.)  I haven’t always been committed to it, but thinking back, this is almost the longest span of time I’ve committed to anything.  I started A 3×5 Life in December 2006 to more widely publish a school-sponsored online journal I’d kept during a class trip to Italy.  (Good thing, because it doesn’t seem to exist any longer on the school website.)  I like to think my writing style has been refined in that time (what kind of writer and editor would I be if it hadn’t?).  I have some ideas about refreshing this blog.  I’ve done a very rudimentary logo drawing that I think is pretty awesome but needs actual art skills applied.  I have an idea for a set color scheme too (#branding).

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with some of the somewhat-preachy overarching thoughts I’ve had in light of all the goings-on in the world:

The platitude about “being the change you want to see in the world” has never been more appropriate.  Fight the good fight.  Enjoy and make the most of your life in the time that you have (because you don’t know how long that’ll be).  Seek to love and understand each other because of, and even in spite of, our differences, because life would be awfully boring if we were all the same.

Until next time, fellow travellers.