Now, I feel I must make an important disclaimer before I continue. I am a strong believer in leaving space in one's life for mental and emotional frivolity (a.k.a. laziness), and also in leaving room for chance, fate, spontaneity, magic, and other unplannables.....because I think these things are vital to human sanity. Children need adequate time in each day to play if they are to grow into happy, healthy and balanced adults, and I don't think grown-ups are really all that different. We need some time for pointless-but-fun stuff to keep us balanced and human, and we need to resist the temptation to plan any sort of creativity or destiny right out of our lives, or else we risk becoming desperate, substance-addicted freakazoids. So in case you were worried all this talk of fat-cutting and time-focusing meant I was planning an over-committed, caffeine-addicted, soul-sucking 2007....rest assured, I will continue to enjoy my fat and folly. My New Year's Resolutions are just about giving them a trim to make room for some other good stuff....
* Drink Less - Drink Better.
Beer and I got closer than ever in 2006. I visited Prague this summer, and in only three short days I sampled not just one, but two of the best beers I have ever tasted. Prague was the first stop on a six-city tour of Eastern Europe, and in each I wandered from bar to bar, yearning for just a hint of the magnificence of the Prague favorites, and finding none. Back in the US, I scoured the beer fridges at Peace Street Market and spent valuable time and resources trying new beers. While this was fun, the quest didn't turn up many worthwhile brews, contributed relatively little to my overall productivity and happiness, and has bloomed into a downright habit of near-daily beer consumption. I'm still a lightweight, and the daily intake probably averages somewhere around two beers. It's far from a life threatening addiction. But still, it's time and money better spent elsewhere. Like on GOOD beer, for starters. I resolve to snip PBR and other craptastic beers from my vocabulary altogether in 2007. I resolve to drink only beer that tastes good, to drink it on no more than 3 days per week, and to drink no more than 2 beers on any particular day.
* Date Less - Date Better.
I am none too thrilled with the amount of time I spent in 2006 stressing about men. And to what end, pray tell? Well, ok, ok, I am a romantic and I do believe love is a very worthwhile thing to invest your energy in, and no experience is ever pointless if you learn from it, which I really try to do, so I guess those are "ends" if "means" and "ends" are the way to look at these things, which they aren't....but I'm not really talking about the love part or the learning part, I'm talking about the stress. Dating in '06 amounted to a good deal of emotional stress for me, albeit less than some other years in recent memory. And, as in years past, I inflicted this embarrassing state of affairs on innocent bystanders like my roommate and assorted friends and family. These people genuinely want to know what's up with me and how I'm feeling, but doubtless cringe when I broach the subject of my love life, for only those outside the particular emotional maelstrom I am in can see how dumb it is. People, thank you for your patience and support, and I am sorry. I resolve to spend less time and emotional energy on stupid dating in 2007. The quiet period I'm in at present feels pretty great, and I hope it lasts a good long while, because I am GREAT at being single, I LOVE having man friends who aren't lovers, and I need the mental energy for other things right now. I am NOT taking a vow of celibacy for '07, but I am resolving to date less and date better: to be more selective, to date for reasons that I am completely proud of or not at all, and, perhaps most importantly of all, not to obsess about whoever it is that I am dating or not dating at the moment.
HAH, you say, not obsess? GOOD LUCK!
I'm serious though. Mind over matter, er, mind over hormones. Grrr.
Whew, those were my big "shall not" resolutions - how about the "shalls" ?
* Grow new projects with persistence and love.
The end of 2006 brought beginnings to several magnificent new projects that I resolve to invest adequate time, energy and love into in 2007 to make them great. The growing metaphor is not accidental here - I've signed on to head up the garden club project at the Raleigh Boys Club in 2007. I am SO excited to have a place to make a garden AND a bunch of kids to work with on it, and also somewhat daunted by all that must be done to get the garden up and running....and with no money! Whoopee! This will be fun. I truly love stuff like this. I am also blessed with not just one, but two new possibilities for musical collaboration in 2007, though Memphisto has fizzled. They're really just beginning, but both have great potential, and a great creative streak that Memphisto did not often have, so this is rather interesting and exciting!* Spend more time outside.
I do a pretty good job of this, but I could always do better, and I know my dog would appreciate it if I did. So, I resolve to play outside more. The garden club should help with this, but beyond that, I resolve to get back into the habit of hiking every weekend, or at least taking a good long walk.
* Save money.
Ooh, fiscal responsibility is a tough one, but I now have my eyes on a particularly awesome prize, and I think it will provide just the motivation I need to spend the year saving up. And the prize is....drum roll please....a house! I resolve to save up my money in 2007 to buy a humble Raleigh home. I love Raleigh, I have no particular plans to leave anytime soon, and there are some pretty great loan programs for first time home buyers who make as little money as I do. So, carpe poverty! Sure, I'm still paying off student loans and now have payments to make on Rhonda too, but I have pretty great credit considering. Why keep giving the landlord money to pay off his mortgage when I could use it to pay off a mortgage of my very own?? :)
* Do Yoga.
I keep on saying it, and I keep on not doing it, but I know that new yoga studios are opening soon in Raleigh, and so I resolve to find a studio and a teacher I can get in to, and to do yoga at least once a week.
So them's the resolutions. I feel pretty good about them. I would welcome your help with any or all of them...like, been looking for a yoga buddy? Got an extra wheelbarrow or heap of compost that you don't have any particular use for? Want to go for a hike and not sure who to call? I'm your girl!! Or, if you see me ordering PBR, or getting sucked in to a stupid emotional maelstrom, I invite you, no, beg you to help me snap the f$#& out of it and stick to my guns. Many, many thanks for your support!
Are you all making any resolutions that you care to share? Is there anything I can do to help you have a more wonderful 2007? Please tell me about it!
Thank you, all, and here's to a delicious and delightful 2007!
4 comments:
Girl! Rock on with the Raleigh Boys Club!!! I didn't know that's where you ended up with this project idea. That's awesome stuff and I'm super excited for you. Keep me informed, puhlease!
-Nic
I will totally, totally do my best to help you stick to the Good Beer Pledge. And the other stuff too, though I have less expertise on these complex things like not freaking out over relationships. So maybe I'll just focus on beer assistsance.
There an interesting pattern or symmetry to those resolutions about beer and dating. Maybe you could draw on that when you're struggling with one or the other. Like, detach yo'self and consider those would-be suitors as you would a commodity such as beer. And then, I guess, reward your prevailing sensibleness with a good beer!
I am finally catching up on reading all of your blogs. I'm wondering how the drink smarter/date smarter resolution is coming along. Have you been able to avoid those PBRs? Think I may sit down and write a few resolutions myself. A few months late but what the hell. As long as I don't add "procrastinate less" to the list I'm okay.
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