The off-season is a great time to follow through with all those plans you promised yourself you’d tackle one day. But if you didn’t get around to as many of those winter projects as you intended, you’re not alone. And you have a good excuse: If only the weather had been worse on the Island, surely you would have met all your goals. Plus, you can find some solace by looking back at some accomplishments you might have overlooked.
You didn’t write the novel you’ve been planning for years.
But you did read a bunch of books that weren’t nearly as good as the one you’re going to write. Which proves that you are a novelist. And although a few of the books that you read were quite good, you realized — in looking at the author’s picture and mini bio — that either a) you’re better looking, or b) your own life is far more interesting. Bestselling authors always live in New Hampshire or Idaho with a spouse and a dog with a clever name. Boring! No wonder they have time to write a book a year.
You didn’t visit Boston once a month to check out museums, the theater, and other cultural options.
But you did go to Trader Joe’s. Once. And you bought enough supplies to last you through spring 2017. Just in case.
You didn’t meet new people, join a book club, or get to know your neighbors better.
But you did add 100 new Facebook friends by going through the local phone book and searching on Facebook for all of the names from A to L, and sending them friend requests. (Next year you can complete this project.) Plus, you now have some friends in Nantucket. Where you will never go.
You didn’t learn to speak French, play the piano, or use Excel.
But you did get really good at Candy Crush/online solitaire/Wheel of Fortune.
You didn’t take up a raw food diet.
But you did buy three raw food books, and all of the ingredients for about a month’s worth of raw eating, and you did try it for one day. After which, when the veggies were about to go bad, you cooked them up in a beef stew, and after realizing that raw cashews would taste far better mixed up with sugar, butter, and flour, you made the best chocolate chip cookies ever. And ate them all. At one sitting.
You didn’t cut down on your drinking.
But you did it at home more often, thereby saving hundreds, if not thousands, in bar bills.
You didn’t develop a regular workout regimen.
While looking for something to watch on TV during the one time that you actually attempted the at-home yoga routine that was to become a daily habit, you did discover a couple of really great daytime TV shows that you have now followed religiously for four months.
You didn’t start volunteering for a worthwhile cause.
But you did think about it a lot.
Don’t worry. There’s plenty of time to start planning for next winter.
