Portland Shenanigans in January

January already?  Holy shit!

To get into the festive New Year’s spirit, I did some digging around to see what kind of cool things Portland had to offer this time of year.  Oh Portland, you are so full of strange and wonderful shenanigans, even in the darkness of January.

Behold:

January 1^st—Free New Year’s Day Hikes at Oregon State Parks, including the coast, Columbia River Gorge, and the Portland Metro Area.  Nature—the perfect cure for your New Year’s hangover. Let's Hike!

January 3^rd—Shanghaiers, Saloons & Skullduggery: A Walking Tour of Portland’s Sinful Past.  $15, 4 p.m.  Learn about the shady past of Portland from a “kick ass Oregon History Historian”.   The tour ends at a haunted strip club.  Sinful History of PDX

January 11^th—Global No Pants Day in Portland.  Free for all ages, 2:00 p.m.—7:30 p.m.  Board a subway car at separate stops in the middle of winter.  All winter gear, sans pants.  Be sure to bring pants along with you (in a backpack), in case you want to hop on the max or get a beer!  Global No Pants Day PDX

January 17^th—Friends of Trees Planting Event in SE Portland, Free, 8:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.  Show your Portland tree-loving pride! Reserve Your Spot to Plant a Tree.

January 23^rd-25^th—ChocolateFest, $15.  Chocolate professionals.  Samples.  Need I say more?  Tickets for Chocolate!

January 31^st—Worst Day of the Year Run.  5K, $35 in advance, free 'beverage' if you show up in a costume.  Let's hope it's hot chocolate (or beer).  Worst Day Run

Info courtesy of PDX Pipeline and Travel Portland.

Not a Portlander?  No worries.  Go nutty on Google—that’s where I found this goldmine.  Dig around and see what your community has to offer.

Happy Exploring!

al

The Beast of Perfectionism

Perfection is just that--a beast.

It can stifle you in your tracks, keep you from taking risks; essentially keep you from progressing forward.  It casts you in the broken-record 'what if'' track.  Sound familiar?

Here are my thoughts on the topic, since this beast is currently slowing down one of my projects.

My desire for perfectionism has been creeping into this blog.  A very wise person once told me the #1 reason that blogs fail is because bloggers stop writing.  I can see why!  Your thoughts, insights, opinions, everything is available for the world to see.  It puts you in quite the vulnerable position.  You want to be perfect!  No mistakes!  You're the best writer ever!

Perfection doesn't exist though.  Any thought that something you create isn't perfect will keep you from publishing, which will stop you from writing altogether, and it compounds on you until you're drowning in doubt.

This can be the same with any goal.  Trying to lose weight, budgeting, keeping the kids from eating boogers, etc., etc.  Your fear of not being perfect or making a mistake can paralyze you.  However, if you find yourself neck-deep in a rut, don't despair.  You're in good company, along with the millions and millions of folks moseying on this Earth.

Ok, so now what?

Well, I encourage you--if you're stuck in a rut, take a baby step.  Then take another one.  You'll fall on your face and/or butt a few times, but you're human.  It's ok!  Dust yourself off, have a smile on your face, then try to get moving again.

Trying to start running?  Start small.  Go outside for a walk.  Then go for another.  Then jog a little.  Not the fastest out there?  That's ok. You're faster than your couch.

Budgeting?  Try to limit the amount of times you splurge for one week.  Do it again.  Did you mess up a little?  That's ok.  Try again!

Habits take a long time to form, therefore they'll take a long time to change.  Keep your chin up and keep trying.  Remember, even one step or two in the right direction is progression.

al