well happy new year! hope you rang in 2010 in whatever style suits you. mine involved about five pounds of baked brie, six bottles of champagne, an almost two-year old with the best dance moves on the planet and a bunch of my favorite people in party hats.
but before the celebrating started, i drew up my resolutions for the new year. for no reason other than perhaps added accountability—if i make them public, i'll be less likely to abandon them?—i thought i'd share them here. in no particular order:
Cultivate calm. i’m less of a maniac than i was five years ago, but i can always use more inner peace. i’ve been afraid of yoga because i’m not bendy or very coordinated, but i really want to get over my fear and take some classes starting this month. Michael got me a yoga mat for Christmas, so i have no excuses. i also have nothing to lose and only serenity and better muscle tone and flexibility to gain.
Make Suze proud. i have all of Ms. Orman’s books and i’ve read most of them and while i’m in a much better financial position than i was years ago, i have miles to go. And now i’m spending and saving as part of a team, which requires the utmost responsibility and restraint. we want to go to Ireland this year, and also find ourselves a home. two huge goals. so i’m going to start throwing my spare change in a jar and exercise self-control when i'm tempted to wander through Anthropologie or browse on Amazon.
Explore my interests. in the last year i’ve discovered that, in addition to writing and baking, i have two other interests i’d love to pursue: photography and stationery. this year i’d like to read up on photography so that someday i can take photos with something other than a digital point-and-shoot. i also want to do some research on creating stationery. i’d also love to design my own note cards, letterhead, invitations, etc. what can I say? i love fonts.
Practice acceptance. this one is wide-ranging. i’m all for aspirations and setting lofty goals but sometimes no amount of wishing or hoping or trying gets you what you want. for example: i will never have calves that allow me to wear skinny jeans or Hunter rain boots. i need to accept this and realize that, given my record of clumsiness, i’m damn lucky to have sturdy legs. i’d also like to practice acceptance with people—those closest to me as well as the strangers on the subway who on some mornings seem hell-bent on pissing me off. i want to keep in mind one of Michael's favorite quotes: “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
Think green. i’m not taking about the environment so much as what i eat. my diet does not consist solely of food in cellophane bags, but it could definitely stand a big infusion of fruits and veggies. for the first two weeks in January i’m going to try to eat only natural foods—no trips to the vending machine, no 3 o’clock sugar-free Red Bulls. i think it only takes two weeks to rewire your brain in terms of forming new habits (or breaking old ones) and i really want to give it a shot.
A page a day. i’m going to write one page of fiction a day. whether it’s first thing in the morning, during my lunch break or right before bed, i can absolutely manage to write one page a day. that’s the only rule i’m setting. it doesn’t have to be a continuation of the day before, it doesn’t even have to be the same genre. But i’m hoping—believing—that i’ll get myself into a rhythm and all the fear i have of failing will dissipate rapidly.
Other minor self-improvements: take my vitamins every day, write more letters, spend less time on Facebook, read five classics i haven't read yet, be more diligent about my Netflix (i.e. don't let a DVD sit around unwatched for five weeks) and do 50 crunches every day.
we'll see how those go... keep you posted!
mbm
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