If you are just starting to read these posts and are wondering why I am doing something as a "first" for each day of the year, you can read more of the story and background HERE.
Day Two// Read a Local Newspaper in its Entirety
Cost: Free
One of the things that I wanted to do this year was to read the local newspaper in its entirety. Y'all, I don't know about you but for me I couldn't remember the last time that I had read the local newspaper all the way through let alone if I truly took time to read it at all.
As I sat in the morning sipping my tea and reading through the local articles I was struck by a couple of things. First, I found it fascinating the different things that were going on in my area that I had no idea about. This really opened my eyes to the fact that a lot of times when I am looking for things to do I will ask friends, see events posted on social media that are happening, or (and this is the most common) often choose recurring items that I am most familiar with. By reading through the entire local newspaper I found out about several local events I would never have known about, some interesting items going on at a local political level, and read about some fascinating people in our area that are working to make our world a better place.
Second, as a lover of history I discovered a hidden gem that I had never known about nor (as I have talked about this) did most people in our area know about. It turns out that starting in 1890 and lasting until right after World War II there was a Catholic Summer School of America that was located here which was a summer camp for adults. It became so prestigious that at times there could be more than 5,000 people who attended and many writers, governors and even a couple of presidents attended. Eventually finances due to the Great Depression and the War closed the camp and all that remains now is a small historical plaque, but it was a fascinating read of an article and it has inspired a couple of other firsts for the year which I will share more about throughout this year!
When I was creating a list of all of the firsts for the year, I had planned to do this first sometime throughout the year. Y'all, I am so glad that a winter snowstorm delayed my other first plan and that I did this at the beginning of the year.
Embarrassingly, I have often been one to say things like, "I was that we lived in a bit of a bigger city where there were more options of things to do" or "There is always the same events happening around here" or "I wish we had this or that..."... and the list goes on. Now I am honestly embarrassed to even write that here, because as I do, I clearly see that it is me that was stuck in thinking these things as I looked for events outside our area.
I obviously love traveling and am looking forward to some amazing experiences this year that I can't wait to share with y'all...but I am also humbly thrilled to have learned an important lesson at the beginning of this year. Instead of complaining or grumbling or wishing something was different about where I live... I need to fully put time into actually looking around and exploring the area through different avenues then what I have been used to doing in the past. When I lived in a larger city (like when I lived in Washington DC) the ideas were constantly being discussed of so many different things that were happening, but in a smaller area just because I had to put a little more effort in... didn't mean that there wasn't new items to be discovered. An important lesson for life. *smiles*
And this could apply to so many different areas of life. What I learned from this seemingly small choice of a first was once again there is so much of this beautiful world to be explored and learn about... even in my own backyard.
Tips for Creating Your Own First Related to This:
*Read a local newspaper in its entirety
*Ask someone you don't know for ideas and suggestions for things to do in your area (or even ask what they are up to for the weekend). After I read this local newspaper I started talking about the Summer Camp I mentioned to everyone I came in contact with and while so many people had never heard of this, I was given so many different first ideas because a lot of people started saying things like, "Did you know that there was also "this or that" here in this area?" It was truly eye-opening!
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