What I am doing with my life one year after graduation

It's been a year since I was in Pittsburgh, proudly (and carefully) walking across the Chatham gym floor to shake hands with the President of the University and receive my diploma holder. One since I cheered for myself and my classmates, and got teary as my husband and parents cheered for me. One year since I saw my graduate school friends and professors, one year since I said goodbye (again) to my beautiful green campus and basked in the humidity of Pittsburgh.

It's been a good year since then. Very busy, but very good. I quit my job, got three new jobs, went on several road trips to Torrey and California, welcomed a new brother-in-law and two nieces, started paying back my student loan, got accepted for publication, and saw my name in print on the masthead of several magazines as a member of the Editorial Staff.

It seems like a lot in one year, and it was, but at the same time, I feel like I haven't made any progress as a writer. Except for work and this blog, I'm afraid I've been very remiss at keeping up with my writing habits and talents. Now that I'm on the brink of having only one job, I have been contemplating what to do with my extra time. I have so many things I'd like to do -- you know, like exercise every morning, practice the piano, do more sewing projects, clean my house -- but at this year milestone, I'm feeling like I should make writing a part of my days. It's something I don't want to lose. I have a creative writing blog that is sad and neglected, and I think I need to give it a little more attention.

My graduation last year was such a proud moment. A triumph, a celebration of everything I had been working towards. The accomplishment of something that was very hard, something that I chose to finish even when I could have excused myself with distance, marriage, and a full-time job. This sounds silly, but I want to make that shining moment proud. I want to follow through with the promise of that day. Otherwise, what was it, other than a piece of paper in a diploma holder?

I feel like I post semi-frequently about creativity, about how I need it or how I find it, or just about it in general. But for all my advocacy, I sure don't follow through very well. I feel the creative urges and I blog about them, and then I fall back into my usual patterns of not-enough-time and too-much-to-do. Good excuses, but not good reasons for neglecting this part of myself. Maybe this time will be different.