19 Things I Heart (2015)

Exactly four years ago, I posted a list of 19 things I was loving at the time.

As a novelist who has written an entire novel in lists (preorder here), it’s not surprising that my blog and social media is peppered with lists of various kinds.

I especially like making lists like these because they allow me to look back four years later and see what has changed in my life. Back in 2015 when I wrote the list, I set a reminder in my Google calendar to check back on the list today, which was a very clever thing for the 2015 version of myself to do.

Good job, former me.

I wondered:

Am I still enjoying the same things, or have my tastes changed? Will I think the 2015 version of myself was odd? Stupid? Naive?

Am I the same person, or am I a completely new person?

The list, it turns out, breaks down into three categories:

Things that I still love

Things that I no longer love.

Things that I now take for granted.

I’ll write a new list for tomorrow for 2019. Here is how the 2015 list breaks down:

THINGS I STILL LOVE

Chipotle burritos

Tickling my children

My wife in a tee shirt and underwear

Bruce Willis action films while on the treadmill

Carhartt socks in place of slippers

Moth StorySLAMs

Jeff (my friend)

Egg McMuffins

THINGS I NO LONGER LOVE

Listening to my kindergarten daughter read to me (she’s in fourth grade and prefers to read independently)

Better Call Saul (between seasons)

1776 by David McCullough (I’m sure it was great but I don’t remember much about it)

The Lyle Lovett Pandora station

Cold water from a metallic water bottle

Holding my dog in my lap after work (she passed away last year)

Any day over 35 degrees (35 degrees? Give me a day over 50 and I’ll be happy)

THINGS I TAKE FOR GRANTED

Overcast (podcasting app)

The Memory Palace (podcast)

UNU battery pack (for my iPhone)

Squarespace