A new beginning

Friends, family, strangers, and anyone else who may be interested, lend me your ears...well, your eyes and attention anyway.  After mulling over this idea for several months, I have decided the time has come to create a blog.

Some time ago, I created a bucket list of sorts comprised mainly of a bunch of silly things I'd like to achieve, like learning to ride a unicycle, cooking good Thai food, and running a marathon barefoot.  My original idea was to create a blog to chronicle this bucket list, and I joked that the intent of the bucket list was to become a modern-day Renaissance man.  The more I thought about this idea, the more I liked it, but the idea has grown a bit, and I've defined my intent of posting this journey a bit better.

I will be striving (and have been striving) to become a better Christian, husband, father, friend, artist, and really, person.  I will be working on this (in part) by partaking in tasks that I believe will improve my Physical life, my Spiritual life, my Intellectual life, and my Creative life.  As I begin, I may notice further areas of life that I have neglected, and I'm sure some of these areas will be easier to write about than others.  (As I write this, I also understand that many of the things I will be discussing cover all four of these spheres; for example, to me music is physical, spiritual, intellectual, and creative)

My goal is not to advertise to the world what I am doing; it is to invite you on the journey with me, to reach out for some accountability and encouragement, and to give me an opportunity to publicly work through my thoughts. I hope to spark conversations (online and in person), to inspire, and sometimes to make laugh.  (I will definitely still be trying to achieve some silly things.)

Below you will find excerpts from the original bucket list (some of them having been accomplished).

• Barefoot Marathon
• Record an EP
• Photo on Jones Soda bottle
• Brew my own beer
• Learn to ride a unicycle
• Learn to escape a straitjacket
• Shave with a straight razor
• Write a short story
• Write a one-act play
• Enter a Photography Contest
• Read Lord of the Rings
• Learn to speak Spanish
• Cook Cajun food
• Cook Turkish food
• Cook Indian food
• Cook Thai food
• Spend a day saying only positive things
• Spend a day in solitude in the wilderness without speaking
• Mountain climbing

As I progress, I realize that I will still be trying to achieve some of these one-off accomplishments, but there are many more ongoing goals that I will be working on that all relate to the four areas of life I will be focusing on.  A few examples below:

• Spiritual - Better my understanding of who God is and what he expects of me
• Physical - Improve my health by eating healthier and increasing my exercise (of course barefoot running)
• Creative - Write and perform better and more music
• Intellectual - Read thought-provoking books constantly, fiction and non-fiction

Although I realize it is impossible to "arrive", I strive to be continuously improving in these areas, and I officially invite you to join me.  I don't know if anyone is even remotely interested in what I have to say or what I am doing, but here goes...