Setting Intentions: A Birthday Tradition that has Changed my Life

Our time in Florida has come to a close, and we are beginning a new season of van travel. It’s exciting …..mostly. A little daunting too.

We have some big ideas for the summer with lots of new territory to explore. And of course, we hope to share those adventures with you in the coming months.

But March is my birthday month, and — along with a little celebration — it’s a time to reflect and re-center. For me, a birthday is a time to reflect on the past year and set new intentions. This practice has changed my life.

A New Year

I begin something new each year on my birthday month. March is my own personal New Year…. but more reflective and private. Less about stopping doing something, i.e. New Year’s resolutions, and more about moving toward something. An intention, if you will.

Often, this something is obvious and visible, a project begun or a new habit developed. Other years, it’s more internal.

My Boring Commute

Ten birthdays ago, I began @myboringcommute, my Instagram photography account. Back then, I was driving 200 miles a day, raising three children, writing a novel, and helping to manage our small sheep farm. Dan was commuting long hours as well, stringing together a bunch of adjunct teaching positions at colleges near and far.

It was an exhausting, but deeply important time.

My first instagram account began as a way to notice and appreciate the beauty around me…. even when I was stuck in traffic, or driving to work in the chilly darkness before dawn, or sitting in the rain watching the kids’ soccer practice.

I hoped that the habit of photography would change my daily experience of my commute. And it sure did!

These are a few of my first posts.

Photography changed the way I experienced the world around me, and how I reflected it. As a side benefit, I learned how to edit photos and connect over social media. I even moderated a local account for a while. In short, I learned a lot.

That small birthday step brought me here… Well, a step closer to here anyway.

A Walk Around the “Block”

On another birthday, I resolved to walk every day. My first walk was short. After so many years without exercise, I made it halfway down our hilly, rural road, and was exhausted! But I kept at it until a five-mile loop around the “block” was part of my daily routine.

This led to longer road walks, and then hikes on local trails. As the kids became more independent, Dan (and Milo) joined me on my hikes. And the rest, as they say, is history.

For my 50th birthday, we backpacked in the Weminuche Wilderness of Colorado. And in the years after that, we hiked two more long trails.

My birthday walk around the block had morphed into a series of unforgettable adventures.

Then there was the big family road trip/backpacking adventure in Washington state.

Driving back from that trip, Dan and I began to wonder if we might find a way to adventure full-time.

In short, maybe we wouldn’t be out here living our van life if I hadn’t tried a new birthday thing.

Dog breeding? A not so bright idea

This isn’t to say that every birthday intention’s worked out so great.

One birthday, deep in financial challenges, I had the idea to get an Icelandic Sheepdog puppy. We had Icelandic sheep after all. We’d add a dog breeding enterprise to the farm and maybe keep ourselves afloat selling puppies.

Enter our Icelandic Sheepdog puppy, Luka, a gift from my mother. She was adorable….. and crazy. A beautiful, pushy little thing that (owing to our lack of experience and the fact that we had full-time jobs, long commutes and three young children) was a controlling, undisciplined little monster.

We loved Luka dearly, and she was great with the sheep. But, maaaaan! We didn’t wish that barky, pushy, reactive intensity on anybody. So there’d be no breeding business, no puppies.

We adopted Milo a few years later “for the kids”. And although Luka did torment him a bit, she also allowed him to live. And he was his sweet, lovable, goofy self from the get-go. Not “breeding material” but a member of the family for sure.

Here’s an adorable video of Milo and Luka that Dan took back in the farm days.

Anyway, those birthday intentions have lasting effects.

Nomadic Intentions

Four years ago, on another birthday, I got serious about our dream of travel and adventure. Nomadic living was always in the back of my mind. But Dan and I wanted our kids to have roots in a community. So we’d focused on other dreams: family, work, farming, gardening, writing, and the years slipped by.

When I turned my intentions to van life, the pieces came together rather quickly. Dan and I learned a lot about building a van-home, solar power, cooking, planning…. everything really, from van-life blogs and videos. Thank you for the nudge, social media.

All those family road trips and car-camping extravaganzas definitely prepared us for this lifestyle. Our low budget van-build feels cushy in comparison.

My 58th year

So, a new year, a new pattern of thinking, routine, or project. That’s where we’re at.

And this year, I’m going to focus on a new project: Making videos to share our adventures!

The learning curve on this one will be steep. It is not my natural way. Honestly, I don’t even watch many videos, now that we’re on the road. (Our favorite sites and channels are here, if you want to take a look at them.)

But I DO remember how important these things felt when we were stuck in our routine at home.

I longed — truly longed — for the wild, wide open spaces I saw in the videos of others. They fed my dream and gave me hope for a future of (crazy/brave) adventure.

I’d like to give a little hope back. And build our van-life community (Dan likes to call it our “Vanbase”).

So, videos. That’s a big one this year. The three that we’ve posted so far are “more work in progress” than inspiration. But ya gotta start somewhere.

I have a few other thoughts, for my new year too. Mainly, getting back into a regular exercise routine and staying active. At 58, I can’t take my health for granted.

My 58th birthday

My 58th birthday (the 8th) was a busy one, with a dim sum brunch, a birthday tile saw, a long solitary walk, and live music around the corner at one of our favorite microbreweries.

But I did find time to reflect a bit. Below, is my journal entry on the occasion of my 58th year. It’s a little personal, but I’m working on getting over social reticence. So here goes!

A Slice of my Birthday Journal

I’m f*&#@ing 58. How can that even be?

Woohoo? Uh-oh? Okayyyy?

All of the above, maybe?

What do I hope to put energy into this year? Well….–Making videos, posting more, writing fiction more regularly. In short: Doing something creative every day.

Also exercising more (Daily!)

I am so grateful for another amazing trip around the sun, feeling my “lucky” all the way down to the roots. To have love and freedom, and the most awesome family. What else is there?

Today, I’m not going to dwell on the gathering darkness in the world. Nor will I spend too much time on money and the need of it. We have enough to live the life we want (frugally). And most importantly, each other and our wonderful, wacky family. Let it stay that way. Time together is the true blessing.

On to new adventures. Yeehaw!