Starting Is the Hardest Part

Spence Mountain, Klamath Falls, Oregon

Starting is the hardest part.

This is just one of the lessons that I’ve learned from my self-imposed Outside 365 challenge. Over the course of this challenge, I’ve learned so much about myself, life, and the world around me, that after being outside and active every day for 365 days straight, I couldn’t bring myself to stop. 

Soon (or so it seemed), I hit two years / 730 days. And at the time of this writing, I’m currently on my eight hundred and second day of being active outside. 

The goal has continued to morph and change over time. The benchmark has gotten harder—moving from any sort of outside activity to traveling a minimum of one human-powered mile per day. But change is constant in life. Even if we’re resistant to it, change imposes itself on us… and if we don’t bend to the winds of change, we may break off in the maelstrom.

Yet another lesson I’ve learned along the way.

And so, Outside 365 and my own personal life continues to change… and the next step on the Outside 365 journey is this blog. As a writer, I can’t stop myself from scribbling in journals, jotting down article ideas, and tapping out blogs, trail guides, social media posts, and so much more. This blog will be the place that I’ll share all of my insights, learnings, thoughts, and feelings as Outside 365 quickly approaches 1000 days.

It has occurred to me that perhaps writing, and blogging in particular, is dead. I’m only 31, and yet I feel like my draw to the written word makes me a relic from an ancient civilization. These days, clicking on a blog or actually reading an article from start to finish feels like digging up a clay tablet in Mesopotamia.

The state of affairs in our click bait multimedia world may be abysmal, but I’ll continue to write anyway. And hopefully, just maybe, actually write well.