birthday.

today, i turn 26.

this past year of my life has been great, and it has been bad. it has been really suprising, and utterly dull. in short, i guess, it's been like any other year of life and like no other year of life.

so, i'm not going to bore you all with some long-winded recap of the major events of the past 365 days, along with blow-by-blow analyses of their impact and significance. what i will tell you is my motto for the coming year. (i know, seriously, a motto? but work with me here. i'm only 26.) this, like my other revelation of the year, came to me pretty organically - i'm not exactly how it formed itself, or how it took root and began to repeat itself to me, quietly and insistently, over the last few weeks. but this is it:

rethink everything.

if it seems drastic, that's because it kind of is. but i've realized recently that i need to try to see things in a variety of possible lights, not just the shade in which i'm used to viewing them. what will i do for work? where will i live? what will make me happy? what will motivate me? what are my priorities? all are fair game over the next year, and while i don't imagine i'll have any definitive answers on my 27th birthday, at least i'll have spent a year considering what i want the answers to be.

and you know what's funny? soon after this little motto had coalesced in my brain, i saw a hyundai commerical with the written tagline, "rethink everything." goddamn advertising industry! cribbing my personal motto for material gain! i should do something, like sue them for intellecutal property. that, or buy a hyundai - i'm not sure.