The Friday Edition No. 03: A Little Direction
Maybe we don’t need to know exactly where we’re going. Maybe we just need enough direction to take the next few steps.
October started this week, which somehow makes the rest of the year feel very close.
Three months.
That’s enough time to change something, finish something, start something or finally give a little more attention to something that’s been sitting quietly in the back of your mind.
I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately.
I don’t necessarily need a perfectly mapped-out plan for the rest of the year. I’m not looking for a dramatic reset or a list of twenty things I need to accomplish before January.
I think I just need a little direction.
I want to know that the things I’m doing now are taking me somewhere I actually want to go.
I want to finish some things around my house so weekends can eventually feel a little more like time to enjoy it and a little less like a list of things I still need to do.
I want to move my body more.
I want to invite people over.
I want to travel.
I want to keep building this little publication and see what it might become if I keep showing up for it.
And maybe most of all, I want to end this year feeling excited about the one that comes next.
I don’t have all of that figured out yet.
But I’m starting to think figuring it all out might not be the first step.
Maybe the first step is simply choosing a direction.
ONE SMALL THING
Choose Three Things for October
I have a tendency to make the list too long.
If I’m feeling motivated, suddenly I want to finish the house, exercise every day, organize everything, grow a business, plan a trip, cook more, see my friends and somehow become a person who always remembers what’s in the refrigerator before it goes bad.
That kind of list usually feels exciting for about a day.
So for October, I’m trying something smaller.
Three things.
One thing for home.
One thing for myself.
One thing for whatever I’m trying to build next.
Mine don’t have to be huge. Finish the baseboards. Start creating some kind of exercise routine. Keep showing up here and figuring out what sharing my life with Two Ten South can become.
That feels like enough.
Not a complete plan for my life.
Just three things that would make me feel like I moved it in the right direction.
Maybe yours are completely different.
But before October gets busy, take five minutes and choose three.
Sometimes a little direction is more useful than a really long list.
SOMETHING WE’RE LOOKING FORWARD TO
The First Real October Morning
I know October doesn’t magically guarantee cool weather where I live.
We’ll probably still have afternoons that feel suspiciously like summer.
But the mornings are changing.
And right now, that’s enough.
There’s something about waking up to cooler air that makes me want to open every window in the house, make something warm to drink and actually get moving instead of easing reluctantly into the day.
This weekend, I’m hoping for one of those mornings.
A fall drink. A little yard-sale wandering. Maybe finding something I absolutely did not know I needed until it was sitting on a folding table with a handwritten price tag on it.
Nothing particularly important.
Just the kind of Saturday morning that makes October feel like October.
And maybe that’s part of having direction, too.
Knowing what you want to accomplish matters.
But knowing what you want to make room to enjoy might matter just as much.
FOR THE WEEKEND
Make the First Pot of Chili
There are certain foods I don’t want in July no matter how cold the air conditioning is.
Chili is one of them.
But the minute the evenings cool down, I start thinking about that first pot.
Nothing complicated. Just something simmering on the stove while the windows are open and the house starts smelling like dinner long before it’s time to eat.
And make more than you need.
That might actually be my favorite part.
Put half in the freezer and suddenly some future busy night already has dinner waiting.
Maybe add cornbread. Maybe pour a glass of wine. Maybe invite someone over if the mood strikes.
Or don’t.
A pot of chili and a quiet night at home is a perfectly good plan, too.
There’s something satisfying about doing one small thing today that makes life a little easier later.
Which, now that I think about it, might be another form of direction.
THIS WEEKEND
I have a few things on the calendar this weekend. A soccer game. Church. Brunch with friends. Hopefully some time outside if the weather cooperates.
But I’m intentionally leaving some blank space, too.
I’m realizing that might be what I want more of as I head into October.
Plans I’m excited about, with enough room around them to still decide what the day could become.
WORTH SAVING
The Projects We Keep Putting Off
This week I wrote about the projects that somehow become easier to ignore once a house actually becomes home.
Mine are the baseboards.
Yours might be the pictures still leaning against the wall, the closet you keep meaning to organize or the room that has been “almost finished” for two years.
The point wasn’t really about finishing everything.
It was about realizing that we can love where we are and still want to keep making it better.
If you have something around your house that you keep telling yourself you’ll get to someday, maybe this is your season to pick one.
Read: The Projects We Put Off Once a House Becomes Home →
UNTIL NEXT FRIDAY
October starts this week, and I’m trying not to treat it like a deadline to suddenly become better at everything.
I just want to pay a little more attention to where I’m going.
Finish a few things.
Start a few things.
Make room for the people and moments I don’t want to rush past.
And keep taking small steps toward the things I’m still figuring out.
Maybe by the end of the year, those steps will have taken me somewhere completely different.
Or maybe I’ll simply feel a little more certain about what I want next.
Either one sounds pretty good to me.
Until next Friday,
Two Ten South
What are three things you’d like to give a little more attention to this October?
#OneSmallThing
