Happy Half Birthday, 2017!

It’s 4th of July weekend, which means (yikes!) we’re half way through the year. Whattt?

I was thinking that in some ways, this weekend is like what kids call their “half birthday”—a concept I was not familiar with as a child but is apparently “a thing” now? Some families even celebrate the day that is six months between birthdays with half a cake!

The Revolutionary era is a hot topic of conversation at our house these days: we’ve been a little obsessed with Hamilton at our house these days. We’ve read the libretto and backstage notes, we know the soundtrack by heart, and we’ve purchased tickets for the Chicago show in November. I’ve also been reading Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton and been struck by how little has changed in American politics since the late 1700s….

Anyway, the confluence of the holiday and our new focus on “the ten dollar founding father” has got me thinking about the Declaration of Independence more than I have in past years.

One of my favorite podcasters, Christine Hassler, did a quick episode on freedom this past week, and I love her take on Independence Day: in addition to celebrating our freedom as a nation, it’s also a time to think about what we want to free ourselves of.

We spend a lot of time thinking about what we want—both materially speaking and on more abstract planes—and maybe it’s time to consider what we don’t want in our lives?

So my question to you this week is, if you were to write a personal declaration of independence, what would you put in it?

Think of this as the year’s half birthday and spend some time writing out what can be seen as the reverse of New Year’s Resolutions: not what you want to attain, but what you want to release!

Drop your response in the comments below, and have a fantastic holiday weekend!