999 Daily Updates

Tomorrow I will concurrently observe two notable milestones: my 1,000th consecutive daily dose of old house journaling AND my 53rd birthday. A coincidence worth celebrating! And a few days later I’ll mark 33 months publishing a new blog post every single day laying bare — or at least *essaying* to lay bare — our Rosslyn adventures (and misadventures). And that, my friends, means 999 daily updates as of right now. Today.

While I’m only slightly superstitious and far, far from inclined to numerology, something about those three digits intrigues me. A parade of paisleys or pollywogs, perhaps?

It turns out that my 999 daily updates resonate with somewhat broadly held notions that this parade of paisley pollywogs might symbolize completion and transformation. One cycle ending, and another beginning.

Deep in the DNA of my Rosslyn rumination, transformation and transition are defining through-threads that define this tapestry of tales. Originally episodic and more recently day-to-day, this storytelling experiment is all about new beginnings. For Rosslyn. For Susan. For me.

So 999 daily updates seems to strike a chord. Sometimes the universe rhymes!

And exploring this 999 symbolism a little further, I’m struck by the fact that I’ve repeatedly extended my original 365 day quest when I failed to achieve my objectives. It was an ambitious ask for a year, but at the time it seemed totally doable. When that first year came to an end, I realized that I still had lots of work to do. Here are some thoughts from that post. 

I’m still striving for transparency. For clarity as much as anything. The liminality I allude to isn’t a single, passing transition. It’s a swelling-almost-cresting wave of transformation. In so many respects, our entire Rosslyn experience, all 17 years of it, has been characterized by liminality. But recent years have revealed a shift, a seismic shift, and we — Susan and I — are navigating, at least *trying* to navigate this change with intentionality and self awareness and compassion. And yet we’re often adrift, buffeted by storms of passion, tossed among the frothy whitecaps, reactive when we’d hoped to be proactive. 

And so I find myself today at once ebullient, proud of the accomplishment that I’ve earned over these last 365 days, but also angsty that I’be shied from the most difficult work. I’ve tiptoed up to the edge, looked into the daunting expanse, and penned platitudes when courageous anthems were needed. I’ve tended the garden when risky adventures would have served me better.

[…]

365 posts into this quest I realize that I am still flagellating between between a conflicted outlook and the conviction I’m hoping to discover. I have not revealed the clarity I set out to uncover. Instead of cutting the umbilical cord with Rosslyn, I’ve doubled down with the icehouse rehab, finally realizing (actually only *almost* realizing, at this point) my long held pipe dream of a workspace in one of our old barns. I’ve ruminated and wrestled, but I’ve not yet emerged confidently victorious. If not uncoupled from Rosslyn despite the fact that our relationship has outlived its most ambitious aspirations by more than 400%. In fact, in many respects I’m more smitten than ever. And I suspect that finalizing my move into the icehouse this week will further burnish my love for her…

So where from here? One mission accomplished. One mission still unresolved. 

Today, is the first day of the rest of my quest. I’ve come up victorious on the yearlong daily practice, committing to habit reflecting on and writing about our home, our oasis, and our relationship with Rosslyn. I’ve proven that I am stay the course. I am confident that I can continue. 

But I must now essay to untangle this almost two decade, poignantly entwined threesome. I will double down, redirecting the discipline I’ve brought to daily dispatches into the real work. Dear Rosslyn, my venture begins anew tonight. I’ll talk with you soon! (Source: One Year of Daily Journaling!)

While progress aplenty has been made, I’m well aware that once again the Holy Grail has vanished like a dancing mirage.

If I take 999 daily updates as a meaningful milestone, then it makes sense to me that it represent a new phase in my journey. If the ethos of 999 invites untethering from the past, and optimistically embracing this period of change, that rings right in so many respects. We’ve offered Rosslyn for sale in hopes of identifying a new family to connect with this remarkable oasis. We’ve begun the transformation of ADK Oasis Lakeside into our future home. And I’ve resuscitated my creative writing practice with 999 days of mostly disciplined exploration and experimentation.

The work of letting go is still to be done, of course. And I’ve come to realize that the catalyst is only partly within my grasp. Writing and creating, deep digging and curating, art and artifacts, emotional and psychology exercise,… All this I have done. All this I am doing. But the final untethering, that’s not up to me. It’s up to Rosslyn. When she finds the perfect match, loving stewards for her abundance, then it’ll be time for the final phase in our transition. Until then, I will write in my icehouse loft as the sun rises on a new day. And I will savor. Every. Moment.