Something New

This past year I decided to keep a list of all the new things I did in 2016. If I'd never done it before, no matter how mundane it may have seemed, it got a spot on the list. My hope was that the list would motivate me to step outside my comfort zone and keep me from falling into a rut. I am prone to ruts. Like most people, I prefer to be comfortable, to stick with what I know. While comfort isn't a bad thing, it can lead to stagnation - a situation I hoped to avoid. The world is a wide, mysterious, dark and lovely place, and I've barely scratched its surface. Doing something brand new, for the first time, seemed like a good way to dig a bit deeper. 

In that spirit, here are all the new things I did in 2016. I hope to have an even longer list at the end of next year. 

Travel 

• Camped at Lake Waccamaw for New Year's Eve with Nathan and the dogs. 
• Visited Atlantic City for my sister's bachelorette party. 
• Camped at Morrow Mountain State Park with Carson and Mel of Local Color fame. 
• Visited Cape May, New Jersey for my sister's wedding. 
• Spent two weeks in Vermont for a writing residency. 
• Rode the SkyWheel in Myrtle Beach. 
• Visited (briefly) Savannah, Beaufort and Datwaw Island for Lucy's bachelorette party. 

Personal 

• Starting using The DivaCup and became its number one fan. 
• Met Roxane Gay at UNCW.
• Gave a Maid of Honor speech at my sister's wedding. 
• Saw The Residents in concert in Carrboro. 
• Started budgeting with YNAB and paid off $12K in credit card debt. 
• Guest-hosted a podcast. 
• Voted for a woman for president of the United States of America. 
• Hosted a breakfast taco baby shower for a dear friend. 

Writing 

• Won a fellowship to the Vermont Studio Center. 
• Wrote a second novel, this one without any help from an MFA program. 
• Ghostwrote a medical book for a bunch of money. 
• Wrote a piece of fiction that was part of a museum exhibit. 
• Served as a panelist during UNCW's Writers Week. 
• Published in MonkeyBicycle, The Boiler, and Necessary Fiction. 

Did you do anything new in 2016? I'd love to hear about it!