Back in August, 2014 I was bored. My husband, Luke, was gone on another long Army training trip and I had spent six weeks doing every blessed thing on my to-do list. I had even cleaned out almost all of my Outlook work email account, created rules for incoming email and organized everything into email files. (If you know anything about Microsoft Outlook you know that this was tedious, stab-me-in-the-eye work). I had trained for triathlons, cleaned out closets, written freelance articles, bleached my teeth …
But most of all I missed my outside buddy. I missed having someone to camp with, the presence of someone who magically always knows how to get the fire started (how DOES he do that and why can’t !?). I missed kayaking — I’m about three inches too short to get the kayaks on top of our SUV alone, and since he is about four inches taller than I am, well, the whole thing just works.
So I decided to start a blog — this blog — where I can think about living the outdoor life, where we can be humans who go outside and then come back inside and write about it. I registered the URL. I started the party.
Over the next several months I wrote blog posts and got ready for the day that I was ready to launch … but that day never came.
And I realized that really, what was going on, was that I was waiting for this site to be perfect, not just done.
Because I was afraid.
I was afraid that you would come here, read this and think that I’m silly. I was afraid you’d come and judge me for not being outdoorsy enough to start a blog about being a human who goes outside. I was afraid that you would hate the colors, or the logo, or the project, or the idea or, or, or …
And so I found a lot of things to do to keep me from putting the finishing touches on the posts I needed done to launch this site. Some of them were truly ridiculous. Some of them were noble. All of them were born of procrastination.
And so, for your entertainment, here are 26 example of …
The ridiculous ways I’ve found to procrastinate in the last 53 days.
Went on 7 date nights with my husband
Awww but he’s so handsome!
Started a office remodel project.
I was going to wait to write this post and launch this site until after the new furniture I ordered arrived and the whole thing was finished but that just seemed like a bridge too far.
Stacked Girl Scout cookies into a tower.
Wrote this blog post
That’s me, just a few minutes ago … looking guilty.
Did a lot of CrossFit
Did a lot of running
Even though it was cold. Because I’m dedicated to running … and not to launching this site.
Plunged this toilet.
And by that I mean Luke plunged it and I supported the effort. This happened literally while I was trying to put the finishing touches on the site this afternoon.
Gave this kid a major hair cut.
Went out to dinner alone instead of going to a coffee shop and working on the site.
Drank a ton of coffee.
Sorted toys.
Read more of this report than I really needed to.
Took a picture of this.
Ate ice cream on a cone for the first time in several years.
Because that’s how much avoiding I was doing.
Drank beer.
Took pictures of food.
Took a lot of pictures of my kid sleeping in weird places.
This is known as a #HuckCollapse — you should follow the hashtag on Instagram.
Talked to this guy on an airplane.
I decided to take this photo after he was being a total creeper and told me I had “nice muscle tone.” Uh-huh.
Went to Nerdy Birdy, a local bakery, more than I care to admit.
Hot glued this craft for my kid.
Confessed to my friend that I was avoiding launching this site.
Got threatened by someone claiming to be affiliated with ISIS.
… And then did a bunch of press about it.
This is me right before my hit on Fox News.
Reminisced over my late Great Grandmother who died in the 1990s.
But she really was a great artist.
Stood in the snow.
Asked Luke to make a fire in the house for the first time in three years.
And the list could go on. And on. But the good news? I’m done procrastinating … I think. I’m hitting “live” and I’m calling it good. Thanks for visiting.
2 Responses
This doesn’t look like procrastination. It looks like a full, well lived life! Can I say again how tickled I am to see this blog?!
Love it!