Day 0001

I have been worrying about whether or not to embark on this project for a couple of weeks now. I lay in bed for an hour this morning thinking about how dreadfully long 1000 days is, and what a burden this project would be if I commit to it. I thought of all of the reasons why I shouldn't bother and why this is actually a waste of my time.

I know that there are many difficulties in achieving something every day for 1000 days. I know that I will be lazy or ill or tired or grieving and that I will have better things to be doing. I know that my priorities will change and that my goals will change and that I will want to stop. I also know that the structure of the project itself -- repeating something every day -- is inflexible and is arguably of questionable utility. But it is a structure that I have tried before and has yielded results that I am proud of. I think it can help me be the person I want to be.

Recently I feel like I have been drifting and don't have a clear aim, and so I have been thinking hard about what I want in my future and how that should influence how I act in my present. I want to be able to say to myself that I took advantage of the opportunities available to me and that I stayed true to who I am. This project is a framework for interrogating who I am, what I want, and what I should be doing. The goals I have chosen to work towards -- to read, to write, to draw, to travel -- will, at the least, allow me to live without the regrets that I never followed my passions. The regret of not settling down to a proper job and following a steady career is another matter, and one I am wrestling with.

I am aware of the value of being young, healthy, and without many responsibilities. I want purposefully to take advantage of these privileges to maximize the opportunities I have to create new things, think new thoughts and see new places. I think often about the idea of self-authoring your personality, writing your own character and living a self-authored life.