The sky is overcast, with just a hint of the morning's hoarfrost clinging to November's bare branches. The smell of my daughter's latest baking project fill the air along with a brief hint of smoke from our woodfire.
It's a quiet Sunday afternoon, perfect for thinking about and finetuning my 40 by 40 list. I recently turned 39 and have been thinking for some time on how I want to mark this last year of my third decade.
I made a similar list in my twenties although that list reflected my highly optimistic not always grounded in reality self. I'm a little more realistic, more aware of the triple cost of things (time, money, efffort) and more aware of my own limitations.
Inspired by an idea I heard on a podcast earlier this year, I decided to mark my last year of my thirties in a very Breanne way.
I will re-read forty books that have been favourites of mine or highly influential in my life or long languished on my TBR (looking at you, Russian classics). It's a pace of about one a week which is less then I typically read in a year but it's a very intentional list.
Keeping in mind that we are what we read (and who we surround ourselves with), I want to revisit the books that have made me, spending a year with friends and companions as treasured books come to play that role. My idea is to blog monthly about the books I've read and my current thoughts on them. My hope is that by stating this intention publicly, it'll keep me going when I want to revert to my normal mood reading self.
I also have another list, I couldn't pass up on an opportunity to set some goals for this next year as well - some health related, some skill oriented and some just because I want too.
And as I sit here on this cozy, grey November afternoon, I want to leave a little room for the unexpected, for very much like Bilbo, I love the comforts of home but won't say no to an adventure.
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