Confession #14: The Least Spontaneous Person

Sometimes I think I’m the least spontaneous person in the world.

I hope these people don't mind that I'm posting a photo of them on my blog.

I’ve already written about how I use Outlook to plan my life. I plan ahead for meals, for friendships, for alone time and social time. Time is the key–I’m incredibly intentional about my time.

Because of this intentionality, I miss out on things. If I plan on having an evening alone to unwind and read and write (I’m an introvert–I need this kind of time) and a friend texts me at the last minute about going out, odds are I’m going to say no.

At least, that was the way I used to be. And still am, in many ways. But something is changing. In the past few months, I’ve become considerably more spontaneous than ever before:

• On a whim after a long drive, I called a friend late at night about having a beer on his balcony. It was awesome.
• I went on several completely spontaneous, unplanned dates earlier this month.
• I went to the Deer Tick concert last week with basically no advance notice.

Those are just three examples that come to mind, but there are a number of other instances of spontaneity over the last few months. Little things, big things…somehow I’m starting to loosen up about time.

Oddly enough, I’ve barely written any fiction over that time period. That hasn’t been an intentional choice, but somehow without my own expectations for fiction writing hanging over my head, I’m much more willing to let go of those nights when I intended to hole up and pound out a short story.

Ideally, I’d keep the spontaneity (and even continue to increase it), but add the writing back into my life. We’ll see how that goes.

Daily Quickie: My publishing startup was featured on the front page of today’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Check out the article here.