A Health Pledge of a Different Kind

2013 has started and many are probably already thinking of or tackling their new resolutions. While pondering what mine could be, I got to thinking that rather than setting forth with a bunch of new behavior, couldn’t I just challenge myself on things I’m already doing? Sure, there’s the good ole workout regimen, eating better, stressing less, but, for me, my challenge has been one of the things I enjoy doing most – writing.

In the hustle and bustle of daily ins and outs, I find it difficult to keep up with both personal and professional writing (depending on the priority, that is). In the coming weeks, months and year, I’m planning on not only writing more here, but also expanding the scope of what I write about. Sometimes you can pigeonhole yourself into one subject area, and, while not a bad thing, it can limit the experiences you have and people you meet.

My first plan is to start writing more about the arts, expanding beyond my health comfort zone. On New Year's Eve, I had the pleasure of being able to attend First Night in Boston. Although my time there was stretched across many areas, one of my most enjoyable experiences was being able to talk to Amiyr Ahmad and his mother, Shahidah Ahmad, of Watertown. Amiyr, a talkative seven year old, is a student at Project STEP, an organization that strives to address the under-representation of racial and ethnic minorities in professional classical music. Open to Black, Latino and other racial and ethnic minorities, the program accepts students from Boston and the surrounding areas and provides instruction on classical string instruments only: violin, viola, cello and double bass. Amiyr plays the violin and couldn’t love it more. Personally, I’m a big music lover and do enjoy relaxing to classical music from time to time. In seeing how excited this little guy was about playing and hearing how much his mother enjoyed the program, I knew I needed to be doing more to kindle my own fiery passion in the arts.

Check in on my posts regularly to see what up I’m up to around Watertown and greater Boston. I hope to continue sharing a bit more health and wellness tidbits with you as well as dive into more arts topics.

Best wishes for a great year!