We’re headed to Kindergarten! 31 in 31 turns 5!

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We started the 31 in 31 group in 2017. Almost five years old. We’ve cried it out, we’ve potty trained. We’re coming into our own but still have a lot to learn. We ask insightful questions no one can really answer. 

My 31 in 31 group is about to attend our metaphoric kindergarten year, and I dare say we have the enthusiasm/jitters of anyone in that actual station in life. Have you met a kindergartener lately or remember when someone close to you used to be one? On his first day, my youngest son cried for hours before he laughed and played with his newfound friends the rest of the afternoon. I know this because his teacher called me at lunch to tell me he had finally wiped away his tears and was having a great time. God bless her. 

If you don’t know what the 31 group is, you can check out what group member Sarah Bonnette wrote about it for the paper two years ago when we resurrected the group post-January to handle the Covid lockdowns. Typically, we join forces every January 1st in an effort to pursue some creative, athletic, spiritual, intellectual, or otherwise overall beneficial daily practice– 31 somethings in the 31 days that make up the month. The core principle is baby steps. The core belief is that they will add up to something wonderfully meaningful. The core joy is each other. 

And it’s starting again come January 1st, 2022. As always, I’ll be doing one small painting each day for 31 days and posting it to my blog. Sometimes the paintings are eh. Sometimes they are pretty good. I’ve come to realize the former is a prerequisite to the latter and my greatest teacher. What a relief it is to know it is not only okay to stumble but essential!

All this is to say, if you are an artist (and ask any kindergartner if he or she is an artist, and I bet they will say yes), a seeker, a writer, a yogi, a musician, a runner, a walker, a cook, a doodler, a thinker, a poet, a do-gooder, any or all of the above, something entirely different, I encourage you to join our group. I am confident I am speaking for the entire group when I say, we would love to have you. 

Just click here, hit “join group.” Easy enough, right? Sometimes the hardest part is just starting. And if you want to check out my 31 in 31 from last year you can do so here. Making it into an ebook was one of my greatest tech accomplishments. 

And whether you are a fifth year member, brand new, or somewhere in between, let me know in the comments how you plan to participate this year. Are you an excited, school-supplies-all-packed-and-labeled kindergartner? An apprehensive will-there-be-legos-and-will-I-make-friends one? Let me know!

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