Day 10 Fort Wayne, I am resolved.
January 1st, 2008
- Read everything you can. Fiction. Biographies. Articles. Non-Fiction. Screenplays. Poetry. Grab it all as if it won’t be here tomorrow, though it likely will.
- Begin to build an extensive library of primarily used books. Collect more art and photography books as well. Organize them by color schemes, autobiographically, or chronologically. Enjoy the organizational process.
- Stay on schedule with the reading schedule in the syllabus of each class. Do your notes. Do not, I repeat, do not fall behind and then be forced to spend an entire week at the end of the semester catching up on 100’s of pages of reading and notes. You’ll learn more if you stay on track.
- Drink more water. Drink less Coca-Cola Classic. Take your Nalgene bottle with you when you leave the house.
- Keep a clean room. Living in a clean space is a healthy practice.
- Attempt to write down one main thought or idea from each day in your Moleskine. Maybe it’s only a word. Maybe a complete thought. This will be interesting to look at at the end of each month and at the end of the year.
- Keep adding quotes to your digital Post-It notes on your desktop. Readdress them regularly.
- Switch from a digital calendar to analogue. Maybe this one. Pen and paper are so much more faithful than a computer. They are always there, whether electricity is or not.
- Eat at home much, much more. Plan a weekly or bi-weekly food budget, go to Trader Joe’s, buy the food, and quit eating out so much. You can’t afford to eat at Chipotle 4 times a week.
- Eat at Chipotle every week.
- Explore more of the Pacific Northwest. Go camping in the Cascades and the Olympics. Discover for yourself Oregon, Washington, and Canada. Take trips with friends and take your time.
- Learn to hold the Scriptures well. Don’t succumb to the lie that you must read large amounts of it every day. Take in as little or as much as you like.
- Keep blogging because you love to write and create. Don’t let it be something it shouldn’t. Find inspiration in others and pass it on.
- Let prayer find its place in your day. There is space for it.
- Go to the movie theater as much as you can afford. Find truth in everything. Be moved by story.
- Remember that you’re going to be ok.
- Go to Scotland in May. Learn between now and then how to photograph a wedding, ignore most of it, and then shoot it the way you want to. Portray beauty without the cliché. Tell the story without words.
- Do not let your Macintosh, iPod, Nikon, lenses, and textbooks get stolen out of the front seat of your friend’s car.
- Be honest in your therapy sessions. Try not to plan out how the hour will go beforehand. Let it happen as it should.
- Remember that you are not in control.
- Take more Polaroids.
- Shoot more film. Let the authenticity run through your veins.
- Learn how to memorize parts of the Scriptures. It’s value is immeasurable. Don’t memorize it to throw it at people, because after you throw it at them you’ll probably throw up a little, and they will be angry and disgusted. Rather, memorize it to transform your soul. Let the truths sink in.
- Go running at the very least every week. Do it as often as you can.
- Continue to do your best at understanding light. Capturing it in a camera is a beautiful process.
- Interpret more. Go to more small gallery showings. Don’t just go to see photography. Explore other forms of art.
- Learn to cook. You can’t eat pasta every single evening. Well, you can, but you shouldn’t. Plus, you will be more likely to get a date if you can cook. Girls like that.
- Go on at least 3 dates. This may seem to be a low number, but let’s set low, attainable standards. Happiness will ensue.
- Start a series of photographs of furniture in odd, abandoned places. Use photoshop less and less. Set up your shots with care and be mindful of your exposures.
- Set up an online portfolio, both to show your work and to sell large prints to help with tuition.
- Put your cape back on.
- Meet Jake, Maggie, and Dylan Camara in person. Don’t let Dylan talk down to you about your love of all things Wendy’s and fast food. You’re 24. He’s 2. You can take him.
- Do not spend most of your time in class browsing the internet. Listen to your professors and fellow classmates. You’ll learn more from them than from blogs and social networks.
- Listen well. Be present in your conversations.
- If you can, find a Hasselblad 500cm at a thrift store. Or find someone who has one and doesn’t want it. Then find out what you can do for them to obtain the camera without paying $1000. Maybe use newly learned cooking skills.
- Find space to breathe. Slow down. Rest. Wait. And hope.
- Create. Create. Create.
Can I add?…
* Meet Emma while in Scotland in May.
Your resolutions are beautiful and true. I’m inspired to get to work on my list.
love it. you’re always inspiring.
burrito bowl with barbacoa, pinto beans, rice, green tomatillo, sour cream, cheese and chipotle tabasco
that’s worth eating four times a week
good stuff. i’m borrowing a few. is that ok?
sounds like 2008 will be a great adventure for you, joshua.
So I mus ask. What makes a moleskine notebook the best in the world. I am afraid I have some cheap knockoff from Target.
Great list. Inspired me to make my own (much shorter) list.
Happy New Year.
my favorite: find truth in everything.
and again, you remind yourself that you are going to be ok. beautiful.
happy new year, my friend.
I knew it!! I was in Powell’s bookstore about a month ago and bought that daily mol. planner but I bought it in black. I did think, “oh, longbrake needs this” as I saw the red one.
it is calling your name…get it!
Visit us when you come to Oregon. We’ll make dinner. It’ll be better than cheese toasties and tomato soup.
go to bend, oregon. my parents will totally let you stay at their place.
i laughed out loud at the one about your stuff getting stolen…not about it getting stolen, but that you wrote that…you know…
scotland? may? maybe i’ll meet you there…
Wow, great list. I really like a few of these, and the one I connected with most was memorizing Scripture, not for the purpose of chucking at sinners, but to transform your own soul. I dig.
Hey you should come up to Canada. Lot’s to do. Let me know if you are looking for ideas or a place to stay.
Great goals! I have the bad habit of not making goals for fear of failing, but maybe it would be better to make a long list of goals and fail some of them while accomplishing others instead of no goals at all. So, you have inspired me to make my first goal: 1. Make more goals.
I just got one of the Moleskine Limited Edition Daily Planners, the twin set actually (pages are laid out differently than the non-twin set versions), it’s awesome and I highly recommend it.
by the way, your photo of the couch is brilliant.
the lines of the couch almost make their own point of interest grid.
wow josh…that is some list…fun, exciting, deep…i wish i could think of a more profound way to say this…but visiting your blog from time to time to see your thoughts is really “cool”…and at the risk of sounding extremely cliche…keep going…keep creating…its a gift you’ve been given and i am so thankful that you share it with all of us…
sincerely…heather bennett (long-lost 2005 SK Summer Intern)
apropos of your photo-cum-text at the top of this post: a (short) poem by one chesterton, g.k.–
Here dies another day
During which I have had eyes, ears, hands
And the great world round me;
And with tomorrow begins another.
Why am I allowed two?
love,
[rab]
[...] a recent post on his blog, Joshua Longbrake has inspired me to create more goals for myself. As I commented on [...]
Inspiring.
As usual.
Simple.
Yet dignified.
Very nice Josh.
me love your pictures…if i were to purchase them, i do have to email you personally right?
it’d be great if you can throw in a free photograph. =D
i feel point number 5. the (my) room is in need of a good bath.
Wonderful, you inspire… and i need, actually need a soft moleskine.
I enjoyed those.
You write with clarity, simplicity and purpose, which i enjoy.
..and definitely keep writing and creating, it is a blessing, especially in my life.
Selah.
oooh i’m very excited about the may bit, and not only for the photos i’m afraid! perfect attitude to wedding photos, we will get along great. roll on may 17th!!
DEFINATELY go to Scotland in May.
I went to Scotland last May & it was fab. I miss Scotland. I’m going back one day. (Living in England it’s generally not all that hard to do)
il y a trop d’anglais dans cette site.
Je trouve tes listes de 2007 et 2008 très stimulant.
Je vais faire qulque chose paraille bientôt.
- I like your lists, will try to make my own soon
Olav
(Norway.)
Whew! Thats a long list :-) I think that you are going to be pretty busy in ‘08. It sounds like its going to be a great year though!
I’m going to live the Chipotle advice. I’m adding it to my list this year.
longbrake.
Inspirational as always. seriously. I love the authenticity. remember our coffee date. it’s still on for some un-for-seen time in the future.
don’t forget to through a football in a trash can every now and then - it’s good for your soul.
one thing to ask you = please keep inspiring me.
thehoneybuns
Love the list, gives me the drive to make one myself and reflect on it and create more amazing dreams. If you ever find yourself on the east coast and need to fill one of those 3 date spots, I can only imagine the fun it would be hanging out.
that was the best year-end / year-beginning list i’ve ever read.
ps. if you find that hasselblad… well, i will be jealous of you. i’m on a similar quest w/an equal anti-skill in cooking. selah.
why shouldn’t you eat pasta every night? it is sooooo delicious.
from the girl who introduced Angel Hair and Parmesan Pasta Roni to your welcoming tummy…
pasta=deliciousness
[...] but I decided to try it out this year. So here it goes. Most of these were ideas from other people’s lists that I have read over the past few [...]