A Laminated Paper and a Piece of Wood jordanmarsh6, March 16, 2021April 5, 2023 (Please see the last post before reading this one!) I can assure you, that I felt just as goofy making that little piece of wood as you probably did reading about it. In all honesty, it sounded like one of those little notes you write from elementary school that you find later in life and laugh about because it was so naïve. For example, I had a crush on this girl in elementary school. Being the daring young chap that I was, I decided to write a note to my crush saying, “Dear _____, I like you. Who do you like?” I then proceeded to give this poor young woman a multiple-choice question with my name among all my other friends underneath. And that’s not even the best part: I went ahead and laminated it for her. So by the off chance she used a dry erase marker to answer the question, she’d potentially have the chance to change her answer (to me of course). I’m not sure my little pop quiz ever made it into my crush’s hands, but you better believe it made it into my mother’s hands. She has made sure that thing doesn’t get lost, and we laugh about it every time we see it. I’m telling you this for two reasons: first, it’s a funny story; and second, making that little piece of wood had strong who-do-you-like-multiple-choice-laminated-question vibes. Literally as I was staining it, I was thinking about that little eight-year-old soul who was trying to get his crush to check the box next to his name. He was determined to make something happen in his life, and he was using a pretty simple prop to get her attention. This time, the twenty-seven-year-old version of me was also determined to make something happen in his life and decided to use a pretty simple prop to get his own attention. But this version of me was worried that the little piece of wood would be destined for the same fate as the laminated multiple-choice question: something largely forgotten about and laughed about later. All of this was running through my mind as I stained the wood. How could I actually make this thing stick? That’s when I thought about the future. I thought about my kids gathered around after I die going through my stuff. I wondered if the little piece of wood would be something they would laugh about because I never followed through with it, or if they would be intimately aware of what that little piece of wood meant to me as I carried out something I really wanted. It remains to be seen whether or not that little piece of wood will hold more symbolic meaning for me when I die. For now though, all that little piece of wood means is that I need to write an article each week and post it on my blog. Over time, it may just hold some pretty clear significance for my kids when I am gone. The piece of wood, of course, is my example to you of an initiation and renewal ceremony. I initiated a goal to become a writer in my life by making a little piece of wood; and I renew that goal every time I write an article by burning into that wood a little tally. I really do hope that I will fill the entirety of the border with tallies, because I have known for a long time that sharing my ideas in writing is something I really, really want (like a boomerang!). The cycle that I have defined from the beginning is as follows: Inspiration –> Motivation –> Plans –> Action I’ve touched on inspiration and motivation. I’m certainly not done talking about those. But I am going to start moving into the plans and action realm. How do we actually get the rubber to hit the road and do it consistently? Self Improvement