The first time I can remember making an empowered commitment to do something daily was in 2012. December 21st 2012, to be exact. And if you don’t remember (or weren’t born yet), that was supposedly the end of the world according the media and the Mayan Calendar. I had been flirting with making a commitment to writing a poem EVERY DAY FOR A YEAR. So I thought, tongue in cheek, that the day the world was ending would be a rather convenient time to make this commitment. So I made the decision. And I told people. And, I probably posted it on my social media, too.
I wrote a poem that day, enjoyed a festive evening celebrating ‘the end of the world’, poked fun at the latest Y2K-styled mass hysteria, and went to bed.
I woke up December 22nd 2012.. and the world hadn’t ended.
Oh, shit. lol. I had a poem to write. Well, actually, I had 364 poems to write.
I ventured on with the commitment. I chose journals to write the poems in. Even if I first drafted a poem elsewhere, such as in a Facebook post, I still rewrote it in my poem journal.
I knew what I was doing every day—write a poem.
I knew where I would do it—in the journal.
I knew when I would do it—sometime before sleeping.
I knew why I would do it—to get better a writing poems; i.e. to get better at doing something I love.
I knew how I would do it, sorta’—by writing SOMETHING in the journal, anything in the journal, any words would count.
In the end, I did the damn thing.
Was it perfect? no.
Did I miss some days? ..yes.
Did I write 2 poems the next day to make up for it? yes.
Did I write 365 poems in a year? Yes, more than that actually.
In my eyes, this poem-a-day-for-a-year was an experiment.
Experiment is an important word here. I denotes a mindset..
I set out to discover something. I was curious. I was bold. I was confident.. and I was frightened.
I had never done something like this before. Could I really do it?
Sure, I breathe, eat, sleep, and so on every day. But this was different.
This wasn’t something essential and about survival.
It was something non-ordinary and about thriving.
It was about getting uncomfortable, setting off on an adventure, and daring to fuck around and find out what happens.. and find out what’s possible.
Its about expanding ourselves and our reality by venturing into unknown territory, unknown experiences, unknown capacities. We can’t find something new until we dare to jump into the unknown.
I found out many things. One being that I CAN make a commitment like this and DECIDE every day for a year to follow through on a decision I made days, weeks, or months ago. Its like keeping a promise to one’s self. Its a concrete example of when people say “showing up for yourself.” Past Cody made a request that present Cody and future Cody show up for him by following through on this commitment. Pretty neat stuff, kinda far out, huh?
Since the Poem-a-day experiment, I’ve done many experiments in a similar spirit, mindset, and template.
No alcohol for a year; or better named, ‘Sober Socializing’ for a year.
Strict veganism for 30 days (which, on day 30, I decided to make 100 days)
Various exercise and eating experiments ranging from 1 week to 1 month in length. The most notables include intermittent fasting and replacing coffee with tea.
The Garbage Post Challenge: posting to social media every day, multiple times a day, for a month, aiming to post 100 pieces of content in 30 days.
And, currently in process:
-meditation every day for a year
-blogging every day for a month.
All of this can sound BIG and carry clout, but I actually wanna advocate for the opposite. Deflate it. Treat it as not a big deal. Let this kind of commitment be something that is both active and passive. Sort of like zen, let a daily commitment be both a focal point and a background decor.
What would you consider committing to daily? And for how long?
Explore it for yourself: what, when, where, why, and how.