Officially, the first week of 2017 is behind us and on a scale of one to ten, I’d give it a solid seven. Not too bad, but definitely room for improvement.

For the first time ever, I kept up with a twelve-lecture cycle over the Holy Nights. I’ve been remarkably dedicated to my journaling practice for the past five Holy Nights seasons, but I’ve never actually participated in any readings. I’ll be honest, I was pretty pleased it was Three Kings’ Day yesterday because it meant I didn’t have to read another lecture before bed! The material was inspiring, don’t get me wrong, but Rudolf Steiner isn’t known for his brevity or his accessibility and these lectures were true to form: long, dense, and deeply esoteric. Still, it felt like an accomplishment to complete the entire cycle on schedule – one lecture per night for twelve consecutive nights – and I’m hoping to carry that kind of perseverance with me throughout the rest of this year.

I seemed to have turned into a night owl recently. A few months ago, I could barely stay up past the toddler’s bedtime, which is to say that I would fall asleep attempting to put him to bed. Now, I’m awake well past midnight on a daily basis, and not just awake, I’m productive. And all without caffeine. Today I finally managed to finish that looming writing assignment, and was given positive feedback from my editor. Not sleeping seems to be working out. Except, I definitely look tired.

Tomorrow night will bring back the dreaded setting of the alarm clock as it’s the first school night after a lengthy and luxurious winter break, so we’ll see how long this nocturnal activity lasts once we’re back to our regularly scheduled weekly programming. I’m counting on the dedication I managed to cultivate through the Holy Nights to guide me toward striking a balance between my family duties, my work obligations, and my personal projects, even if it means a year of late nights and early mornings.