Lately, I’ve realized something:
I want my life to have more plot.
Not drama. Please, Lord, no.
Plot.
In a story, the plot is what moves things forward. Someone makes a decision or something unexpected happens. Maybe a door opens, or someone takes a risk. The main character wants something and decides to go after it.
Without plot, there really isn’t much of a story.
And I’ve started to wonder if the same is true of a well-lived life.
Over the past few years, I’ve settled into a pretty predictable rhythm. There’s nothing wrong with it. In fact, I worked hard to create a life I love.
But comfort can become so comfortable that we stop giving life anything new to work with.
We go to the same places. See the same people. Order the same thing. Spend our weekends the same way. We think about taking the class, hosting the dinner, booking the trip, learning the language… and somehow, another year passes.
My word for this year is Vivante, which means alive.
And one thing that word keeps teaching me is that aliveness requires participation.
Sometimes you have to move the plot forward.
Say “yes” to the invitation. Make the reservation. Invite six people over on a Thursday. Go somewhere alone. Invest in the thing. Try something you may be terrible at. Follow the strange little curiosity that won’t leave you alone.
A well-lived life doesn’t need constant excitement.
But I do think it needs some plot.
Something to anticipate. Something that stretches you. Something that makes you say six months later, “Remember when we…”
So as we head toward the end of the year, here’s the question I’m asking myself:
If the next three months were a chapter in the story of my life, what would give them more plot?
And maybe that’s a question worth asking yourself, too.
Here’s to a little more plot,
Aliveness requires my participation.
The trip doesn’t book itself. The dinner party doesn’t host itself. At some point, I have to be the one who moves things forward.
Westman Atelier The Carry-On Edit
I love to travel, and even more…I love a travel set that allows me to take my routine on the road. That’s why I adore the Westman Atelier Carry-On Edit.
Everything I reach for every morning, edited down to un petite sizes, in one beautiful kit. Packing has never felt this intentional.
How to Become A Risk Taker [From the Archives]
Anything you want and don’t yet have is living out there in uncertainty. Which means at some point, you have to be willing to move toward it anyway – without a guarantee, without a map, and probably before you feel ready.
This episode from the vault is about learning to do exactly that.
// TheEDIT
A weekly digital magazine by the School of Self-Image