February's Analog Update

It got crafty over here, y'all.

Beloved, it’s been nearly a month since I shared my new year’s intentions, so I thought I’d update y’all on how it’s going.

It’s messy. Real messy. My dining room table may never be the same.

I decided I needed to make goal-keeping fun, so I made some fun punch cards for when I accomplish a goal.

Jared called this game-ifying my goals. I say it’s a fun excuse to play with paper and stickers and stamps.

This one is my favorite:

As silly as this project is, I realized that I need some kind of outside motivation to continue making progress, so I’m leaning into it. If I need a trick(or a treat) to accomplish something, I’ll do it.

I’ve already made so much progress on these goals just because of these silly cards.

My advice? Quit playing it cool. Do what works for you! For me, it’s making a whole bunch of punch cards from old playing cards and taking care of business.

Here are some of my punch cards:

• chapters written

• Q1 writing goals: GMC analysis, outline, and synopsis (with 3 different end dates)

• journal entries

• X-Stitch squares completed (divided into groups of 5)

• # of collages

• walks

• 50 books to read (with a BOOKWORM!)

• Mama/Daughter dates with Jubi

• Mama/Daughter dates with Joy

• Trips

• 7 Lake Days

• 4 Workshops

• 11 New recipes

• at least 5 native species planted in my yard this year

• 20 dates with Jared

• Joy’s birth certificate

• Declutter 14 spaces in my home. (I already did three when I cleaned out three lockers!)

• Have people over at least ten times.

• Submit art/writing six times

What I like about this system is that you can add more whenever you’d like, kind of like a rolling to-do list. Honestly, any excuse to use a label maker and some glue, I’m all for.

Aside from these, I’ve been wasting a lot less time on my phone. (I’m still wasting time, just not on socials lol) My reading has picked up exponentially, which means I’m staying up way too late to finish my book because self-control is not a strong suit of mine. (Kindle Unlimited had a free thirty day trial, and I blame Jeff Bezos for this lack of sleep I’m getting.)

I’ve also been trying to play piano more often. I took lessons for years as a kid. Every week Mama or Daddy dropped me off at Ms. Linda’s house where I would, as Daddy likes to remind me, practice for the first time in front of her. He paid $45 dollars a month for me to avoid practice like the plague.

Daddy, your money paid off because I am practicing a whole lot now! I was recently inspired to focus more on playing by ear by a man at our church. He wears these gigantic silver rings with Harley Davidson skulls on them, and they’re so big, they go over his knuckles. When he plays you can hear them clacking together, and something about that makes me so happy. He gave me a few pointers after church Thursday night, and I went home and played until around 10:30 or so. I only stopped because the girls needed sleep and since our house is very small, my playing was keeping them up!

It seems frivolous at times to pursue beauty and music and art while there is so much evil out in the world. All that’s done in the dark will come to light, but I also think that what’s done in the light will shine in the dark. I’m not saying me playing the piano or whatever is going to change the world, but I do think it changes me. It is something to focus on when my mind is heavy with all the sadness of the world. I can pray and play and make room for joy in my life wherever I can find it.

I think my girls are finding it too. Joy and I sat and played together yesterday, her little fingers finding the C, D, and E keys. She hit the C when I played my C chord, the D when I played D minor, and E when I got to E minor. The gears in her mind turned faster and faster as she heard what was coming and knew where to go. Jubi, who has never been interested in piano, has started asking me questions about what I’m doing. I’ve found it’s important for your kids to see you doing things that are challenging for no other reason than you want to. To see you pursuing a long-term goal that is difficult.

These analog pursuits scratch an itch in my brain that has long gone…unscratched. They’re hard in different ways, especially with music. My brain recognizes guitar stuff and picks it up quickly because I’ve played nearly all my life. Piano, however, is a whole different set of skills, and I’m mentally fighting for my life and loving it. My brain is tired at the end of the day in the best way possible. When I’m not staying up too late reading, I sleep much better!

Anyway, I’ll keep y’all posted. I hope to give y’all some updates on workshops and writing soon.

I love y’all,

Tristan