I’m undertaking a 1000-day reinvention project, blogging here daily to track my progress. In Sunday Planning, I plan for the week ahead.
Today I fly to Bakersfield, California where my older daughter will be picking me up on her way out of Mountain View, heading to a new job and new life in Atlanta. Tonight, we’ll stay in a little motel on Route 66 in Barstow, California before continuing on to Grand Canyon Village, Arizona the next day. After that, we continue to Santa Fe, then Amarillo, then Oklahoma City, at which point I’ll fly back home to Denver and my daughter will continue eastward. She will meet up with her boyfriend in Little Rock on Friday and they’ll reach Atlanta by next Sunday.
I’m so excited to be able to do part of this drive with her. I’m a big fan of road trips. I love being in a car for long hours with someone special, listening to podcasts or audiobooks through long hours, stopping in towns I’ve never visited before, and seeing the different landscapes across U.S. states.
Late August is the ideal time to do a road trip. The summer is ending. School hasn’t started yet or if it has, just barely. It’s a liminal space between the frivolity of July and the seriousness of September.
Back to School time is one of my favorite times of the year. I like to get serious about my life and my plans as summer turns to fall. I like to start new things. But this September I’m not starting anything new. I’m continuing to work on my project in progress, Things Men Gave Me. When I return, I’m going to complete my latest essay and painting and share them. I’m going to finish and frame my painting for the Heritage Guild This Is Colorado show.
I’m also going to think about what sort of promotion to do for TMGM. I want to start promoting it not just through my own social media but via communities that already exist around the topics it touches on: online dating, midlife love, developing as an artist, midlife reinvention. For tomorrow’s Monday Marketing post, perhaps I’ll research options for that. I’ve never done that before and I feel both scared and self-conscious about it. But I know it’s the next step I need to take to share my work with people who will appreciate it.