Blogging Is Like Spin Class

Today I am watching the third or fourth gigantic snow dump of this year. By year I mean school year. I don't really think of years that other way- with the January transitions. I mean, January is in the middle of the cold dark winter.Who wants to start the year then? September is nice cool sweater weather with new books and notebooks and maybe even a new outfit or two. And yes, I know there are people out there who do not go to school or teach or have children or parents who go to school or teach and they can't relate to this "school year" thing. Well I can't even begin to go there. If you don't teach or go to school then you have to work in the summer! Who would do that? Other than everybody who teaches, because they need the money?

I do not mind that people like to do their "resolutions" at this time of year. The health clubs need the new members right now. They especially need the people who join but do not actually go to the gym. These people make the local YMCA affordable to the rest of us.

I have made some resolutions of my own. One is to stop worrying about my really appalling grammar skills, and somewhat shaking spelling. I can get help. I can avail myself of the support of my many literate friends who really seem to know why you are not supposed to end a sentence with dangling stuff.

Most of my resolutions this year have to do with accepting myself and my world a little bit more graciously. So instead of saying I will lose such and such amount of weight, until I look like I did when I was a substance abusing, eating disordered, but yeah, thin, fourteen-year-old , I am going to work on liking myself enough as I am to just do more yoga, walk the dog a little farther, get off the T a little earlier, eat more fresh fruit and veggies, and just be okay with it all. Similarly, I am going to stop worrying about what will happen if anybody were to actually read my blog and find out that I just can't stop writing really long " sentences" ( I am learning in grad school that just tossing in more commas doesn't really make it a proper sentence) and that when I get angry and passionate my entire sense of syntax goes out the window . A few days ago I got so upset about the fact that NYC has the Beastie Boys and Boston has what? New Kids on the Block? that I spelled confused "right and "write". Holy stupid ranting English teacher.
It's okay. Its like the jumping around my living room instead of going to the gym today because, um, there is this blizzard. I am actually writing. I am making the slow and gentle move from writing for many many many ( yeah, I know, cut at least two of the many's - I would mark that on a student paper- but it really is many many many) years only in my journal, I am moving towards this blogging thing. And I have shared the location of my blog with at least three people who will read it . And I think those three people all would agree that I should not be a professional copyeditor. So what? If anybody ever gets froth at the mouth apopletically grieved by my grammar then they can say so and I will fix it, just like the NYT . But the point is that instead of waiting for my writing to be perfect ( like waiting until I look perfect in a leotard before going to the gym) I am going to be writing imperfectly in the hopes that I will then get more comfortable with my flabby, huffing ,out of breath, ( would really rather go back to smoking thanks) writing skills and then as I sweat it out get a little less selfconscious about people seeing my uncooordinated efforts. If I just do it, like Nike ( the archetype, not the sneaker) then I will , if nothing else, get a little more comfortable with group exercise. In that same vein I am encouraging all of my brilliant writer friends to blog too. We can do this people. Then I can determine that getting up in the morning and reading my friend's blogs is kind of like going to the 5am Spin class, only for my brain.