Showing posts with label new years resolutions. Show all posts

2013 Resolutions

It's a bit late, I realize.  However, I feel obliged to my record-keeping self to evaluate last year's resolutions and present this year's.

2012 Resolutions:
2012 Resolutions

Of the 10 items listed above, I can proudly claim 3 as complete.  This is a stark drop from the 2011 Resolutions, of which I completed 11/17.  I am unsure why I didn't write "Gestate" on the goals, or perhaps something I knew would be a momentous achievement, you know something like PUSH A BABY THROUGH MY VAGINA!  Oh well.  Sometimes we can be unfair to ourselves, setting life up to fail.  This year, I promise to be more realistic.  I have learned a good lesson about lists as it is, being a new mom.  They have to be more flexible and I have to let it go.  That being said, I still receive a disgusting amount of peace and happiness from arranging my to-dos on paper.

COMPLETE:
I did see Radiohead (which, let's be honest, does this count as a resolution?  I already had the tickets when I made this list.  Too easy, crm.  Too easy.).
I did plant a few flowers this spring, a sweet little window box adorned the kitchen for a time.
I did visit CA family more than I had done the year before.

MEDIUM COMPLETE:
For several months early in the year (the expected duration of most resolutions), I was reading and writing letters on Sunday Morning.  Some proof even exists.

FAIL COMPLETE:
I completely forgot to practice meditation.
I most certainly did not live with less (since pregnancy requires new clothing)
Not only did I not save 3-months of our salaries, I failed to retain a job.
No breakfast nook.
I don't even know where my copy of "TBK" lives.
The chair is Joel's project.

I feel no sense of failure.  In fact, I find these items quite amusing.

But enough of that.  Onward!  Out with the old! In with the new! Champagne!
I am quite pleased with these goals.  I feel they are kinder to myself and certainly more realistic.

-Drink 32oz of water before morning coffee/tea:
I have noticed that my problematic neck becomes even more painful with coffee and booze.  This can often be counteracted if I drink water beforehand.  I want to make it a more permanent practice.  In fact, as I write this, my mason jar of water sits contentedly empty as I sip my coffee.

-Protect sacred morning quiet:
From the star, I think you'll see the obvious prioritization of this item.  Since Bowie is her most calm and happy in the mornings, she can entertain herself somewhat quietly while she watches mom journal.  (Incidentally, this also fulfills one of my recent observations that Bowie is going to get her picture of what a mom/wife does by watching me.  It want this picture to contain images of soul-work in addition to chores.  I've therefore made a concerted effort to have her observe me journaling, reading, listening to Rachmaninoff  etc, as well as doing the dishes, making dinner, folding laundry, etc).  Any-who, I have found that protecting even just 30 min of quiet first thing greatly eases my anxiety throughout the rest of the day.  I don't check my email or my phone or computer.  I either journal or read or meditate, and I resist the strong urge to fuss about the house tidying.

-Get back to yoga:
I went to yoga classes all throughout the pregnancy, and I really miss it now.  I need to prioritize my class, and it's extremely difficult with our schedules.  Maybe I can also work it in at home.

-No screens in bed:
I recently read an article about sleep, and apparently in order to assist restorative sleep, the human eye needs to not look at a screen for 1-hour prior.  We always get into bed and screen ourselves, where once I used to simply read a book.  I will try to get back to this practice.

-Personal education:
This is a response to feeling the emptiness of mental stimulation as I stay home with Bowie.  I have organized a self-directed study in Women's Studies which I am extremely excited about.  My Christian education didn't really prepare me for this - as you may or may not know, 'feminism' is a dirty dirty word in that realm.  I'm extremely ready to deconstruct this. (I may have used the word extremely a few times here.  Note emphasis),

In the last two years, I've also become fascinated by science and the cosmos.  In this fascination, I have also discovered a shameful gap in my knowledge.  I am therefore desirous to do another self-directed (by Joel) course in the cosmos.  This will happen initially by viewing 'Cosmos' by Carl Sagan, as well as continuing to read this very fascinating book. I am sure this beginning will lead me to other scientists and research projects.


Be resolute, my fellow sojourners.
crm
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New Year's Resolutions 2012

I am happy to say that I completed 11/17 resolutions for 2011.  I may have been a bit ambitious with  "visit every used bookstore in Seattle" (I made it to one), and it's a little hard to gauge goals such as "Be kinder to self." But in the "go dancing" and "write a book of poems" category, CHECK!

I would also like to take a moment to thank my fetus and 6 weeks of nausea for helping enforce the "drink less" goal.

2012 Resolutions


So 2012 will naturally be enough of a challenge on its own as I carry and birth my first child, but I am still a lover of specific lists with much thought poured into them, so I've narrowed down a few items I would love to see come to fruition this year:

2012 Resolutions
I am especially looking forward to the second goal of using my Sunday mornings to read and write letters.  I have become terribly lazy in the last few months, writing maybe 1 letter in that time.  I really miss it and owe my dear friends several letters back!  I know myself better when I write, be it journaling or letters, and I feel a bit out of touch with my best friends: words.

Regarding the goal "Live with Less," I'd like to explain what I mean.  I recently heard an NPR segment on a book entitled, "My American Unhappiness."  The author spoke poignantly about how American's live in a culture of excess and yet are some of the most unhappy humans on the planet.  When we want to fix something in our lives, we tend to think of adding things (i.e. exercise more, invest more, buy a new car, have a baby) and rarely do we consider that what we really need to do is redefine our standard of happiness.  He said the phrase, "Americans need to learn to live with less."  This idea has stayed with me ever since, and I've questioned how I myself could live with less. I am still not sure, but I am thinking that it will come to play when buying the necessary baby things (I think people really tend to go overboard in that arena), but also when it comes to clothes, entitlement about produce (I've been know to be frustrated that I can't find a ripe strawberry in the dead of winter), portion sizes while eating.  I am still really playing with the idea, and am still not entirely sure what it means practically.  What do you think of?


Charcuterie

When I asked Joel what his resolutions were, he said, "Make sausage."



I do hope your year is off to a good start.
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6-month check up


June marks 6 months into 2011 and I am taking a moment today to look at my goals.  I have a lot more work to do, but am also encouraged at how many of my resolutions are in progress.

Notes:
  • Memorize a poem - This is only difficult because I still haven't decided what to memorize.  It's between Rilke, Plath, and Eliot though I feel a pull towards Eliot's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (though of course I'd have to chose which stanzas).
  • Re-read "Letters to a Young Poet" - just started it last month, but it's so rich and relevant that I am taking it very slowly.
  • Create an inspiring writing space - This has actually come along quite nicely. I've painted the spare bedroom "cathedral gray" and moved all my books into it, which I was wary of making the room seem too small and crowded, but those books actually breath a womb-like breath into the space.  I thought I would use my mom's old sewing table as a desk, but it turns out to be much to high for any of my chairs and uncomfortable to write on.  It's my next action item.
  • Go dancing - I've not yet gone dancing this year and hope to remedy that indeed.  Does rollerskating count?
  • Visit every bookstore in Seattle - I've since truncated this goal to only used bookstores.  As of today, I've been to 1.  Obviously I need to get cracking here.  Want to figure out what to do with the information post-visit...a write-up, a blog post?  Not sure.
  • Make #2 dress from vintage pattern - I have two children's outfits to begin making, and they are being cut from vintage patterns, so I do think this counts.  However, for my birthday I would like to work on a dress for myself.  I have a pattern already.
  • Write a book of poems - I am happy to say that I've been working the last few days on collecting the poems I write in my journal.  I will begin the process of typing and editing in the next month.  It is still a goal to write a poem per month, so I will need to continue this throughout the year.  I had recently experienced a slump of inspiration, but when I honestly examined it, I realized I was the one keeping myself from inspiration because I wasn't practicing or even creating the potential for a poem.  This is what I've been working on most...which I believe to be an integral part of being any kind of artist, so it does directly contribute to this book of poems.   Anything, anyone, anywhere can be a poem.  Plath's Blackberrying comes to mind...a simple poem about her afternoon with nature.  It strikes me because it's a very plain subject, even a boring muse.  However, I am trying to teach my poetic eyes that a poem is almost never about the subject, but about the vision of that subject...how I uniquely see it.
  • Try a new recipe once a month - While my data-obsessed self would have loved to cross this off at the end of each month, I've not been consistent with it.  I have tried at least 4 new recipes that i can remember off the top of my head, and I feel satisfied indeed with this progress.  Made dinner for friends the other night and tried out this tortilla soup recipe - divine!  Going forward, I am thinking of planning which recipe to try that month so I can ensure it happens.  I've been very intimate with a French cookbook lately and am really eager to try several of its recipes.
  • Plant an herb garden - CHECK! Well, Joel planted, I weeded...but those herbs are so incredibly happy!  We have Italian parsley, cilantro, chervil, and Greek oregano.  As soon as the weather stays consistently warm (not holding my breath), we will plant tomatoes.
  • Make dates with Joel - This is well underway thanks to our therapist.
  • Make dates with me - I'm sorry to say this may be the most neglected goal.  Must remedy soon.  Again, as with anything I want to accomplish, unless I PLAN it, it really doesn't happen.
  • Re-instate savings practices - We are doing a lot of financial planning and shuffling, so I feel good about the progress though sad to say our savings account is pretty naked.
  • Be kinder to self - How to assess this?  I feel I am , but there are always many more opportunities to grow in this area.  I think specifically these last months I'm working on loving my physical self.  This is an interesting area because a few years ago, I had successfully extracted some pretty nasty thoughts about myself that I believed.  Strangely enough, they crept up again earlier this year and instead of being afraid of them, or quickly denying them a voice, I've since learned to turn around and engage the origin of the thought, asking them instead why they are there - what they are truly trying to say to me.  I believe each shadowy thought has a light on its flip side, and I am walking through the dark forest to come to the shore.  It's much harder than shutting them up, but I'm hoping this way to exorcise them for good.
  • Challenge myself photographically - There has been a big push around here towards this.  I am a solo-shooter at my first wedding next month and doing tons of research on my camera, poses, and slowly discovering my confidence and aesthetic.  Though it would be a nice way to make money, I sincerely doubt I'll ever want to be a professional photographer - it just way too exhausting.  The last wedding I shot (2nd shooter), I didn't pick my camera up for weeks afterward and I just don't think it's worth it.  Now I might gain stamina and learn to work professionally while still retaining  my artistic integrity, but I just don't know at this point.  I did buy new equipment and am reading books and blogs about photography in general, and I feel really good about it.  While I am all about the happy accident photos, I want to be more intentional and educated about my shots.
  • Drink less - check!  I've been doing well here - not too rigidly denying myself, but also being very intentional and conscious of why I am pouring another glass of wine.  

Hope you are remembering what you wanted for 2011, revisiting your goals, and finding the January momentum to carry you through the next half of the year.

Cheers,
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