Part of why I like the #500wordsaday challenge is that I’ve done it a few times now, and have seen it all the way through. The first time I was convinced I wouldn't make it, since I tend to start things and fade out. Quietly but all at once like I never meant to try it at all.
Now that I have proven to myself I can get through 30 days of this, let me cheat for a day and give you a listicle.
Things I Have Started and Did Not Finish:
- Modern Dance, 1986 (no rhythm)
- Playing the Violin, 1987 (hated practice)
- Basket Weaving, 1998 (supplies were fairly limited)
- Handmade Paper Dolls, 1989 (artistic talent paled in comparison to existing dolls)
- Pen Pal in California, 1990 (liked stationery more than actually writing)
- Girl Scouts, 1991 (not a good salesperson, had to buy almost all cookies)
- Pen Pal in Spain 1992 (enthusiasm waned post-Olympics)
- Handmade Cards, 1993 (see also: 2007; difficult artist’s market)
- Babysitter’s Club Business, 1994 (more work and less friends than the book series)
- Collecting Basketball Cards to Sell and Get Rich, 1995 (did not get rich)
- Basketball (Playing,) 1996 (as it turns out, I’m quite short)
- Learning to Drive a Stick Shift, 1997 (frustrated by the failure rate, seemed inefficient)
- That Marble Game Where You Try to Get Down to One Marble, 1998 (might be ready to tackle this one again)
- Trying to Be Cool, 1999 (shrug emoji)
- Step Aerobics, 2000 (more shrug emojis)
- Singing, 2001 (couldn’t afford voice lessons anymore, wasn’t getting discovered fast enough to warrant debt)
- Keeping a Diary, 2002 (tried a Bridget Jones-type narration and hated myself for it)
- Cooking Anything of Value, 2003 (see also: 2011, 2015, 2018; have very little patience to wait for food when hungry)
- Not Eating Sugar, 2004 (this was dumb; remembered the existence of cookies)
- Spin Class, 2005 (huge quads, made me hungry all the time)
- Reading All the Classics, 2006 (made it through Lolita, panicked that the list of books is longer than I will be alive to read; gave up from existential dread)
- Drawing Sketches of Everyone I Know, 2007 (creepy)
- Hanging Frames in Just the Bedroom, 2008 (no explanation; hung frames in every other room of the apt)
- Watching “Lost,” 2009 (just couldn’t)
- Teaching Myself Russian, 2010 (didn’t have money for Rosetta Stone, would go to Borders and read “Russian For Dummies” in the cafe; ran out of time for this)
- Writing a Children’s Book, 2011 (and every year since)
- Fashion, 2012 (thought could pull off “teal pants” and “scarf-as-shirt”; could not)
- Writing On a Set Schedule, 2013 (lol routine)
- Making Jewelry Out of Found Four Leaf Clovers, 2014 (bead shop closed, fell adrift)
- Pinterest, 2015 (think I’m not alone here)
- Plants, 2016 (see also: now)
- Not Panic-Reading the Internet, 2017 (super shrug emoji; see also: The New York Times, 2017)
In related news, I renewed some Etsy listings, and I have over a hundred four leaf clovers if anyone has any suggestions.