So, besides hugging the whole world in February, I’ve also committed to writing 15 minutes every day. You can read all about it here, but the impetus behind my deciding to do it was this: I can spare 15 minutes a day. We all can. Even the most high-powered, globe-trotting, insanely busy among us can come up with fifteen minutes.

Fifteen minutes is nothing.

And everything.

Honestly, when I posted my goal on January 31st, I was already writing way more than fifteen minutes a day, but almost always for specific writing projects. What I wasn’t doing was playing, writing wild, letting whatever happens happen and worrying about the market later. With all that I have going on, that kind of writing (which is exhilarating and wonderful and the reason I was driven to write in the first place) never felt like an effective use of my time.

That is, until I declared it. I made it a goal and said it aloud, and then the need to follow through became more important to me than all the (really stupid) very important obligations that were keeping me from doing what I love.

It’s been a little over a week and I’ve written a monologue, the skeleton of an essay, the beginning of a story about a couple sitting outside a coffee shop between rainstorms. I think they’re breaking up, but I’m not sure. I’m learning about them slowly, fifteen minutes at a time.

So here’s the thing. I truly believe we can all find fifteen minutes a day to do something we love, or accomplish something we’ve been putting off. In fifteen minutes you could do an ab workout, walk around the block, throw outrageous ingredients into a slow-cooker, make out on the couch with someone you love. Over the course of February, working fifteen minutes a day, you could clear out a closet, organize your photos, fill out college applications, paint the solar system on your ceiling, write a story, create a portfolio, pen an epic love letter, read a book, learn to dance, write a slew of blog posts, sew a dress, hug 28 people…

I think it would be cool if we all did this, each of us picking our thing, and for fifteen minutes a day in February, making it happen.

What do you think? Have I convinced you?