2010 - We've Been Expecting You!
I know that most bloggers have already posted their end of the year-beginning of the next year posts with accomplishments, goals, and resolutions. I was going to take time out from getting The Book finished and write one of my own the other day, but I really wanted to think about it first. There is something in the air this New Years, something different from anything I remember feeling before. No, I really don’t know what it is, but it feels like very-cautious hope.
Perhaps we’ve collectively become tired of the downwardness of everything we see. The news doesn’t help much either, what with their doom and gloom and more doom broadcasts. Add that to the fact that we are either unemployed or know someone personally that is unemployed and it doesn’t help that my nephew is in the final stages of training so that he can go over and fight in the war. It could be that perhaps we all want so much for everything to get better that it’s palpable.
That’s why I keep hearing people on Facebook, Twitter, or their blogs saying “this is the year, this is it! This is the year that things go my way” and you can tell that by their convictions that they have been so totally ready for 2009 to end and 2010 to begin.
2010 – the year that things go well.
I feel it too. I feel the gears turning and the pieces clicking into place like some universal combination lock that we have finally found the solution to. I hope that’s what I feel. 2010 needs to be the year that we SEE something to be happy about. We need it as a people.
Resolutions, get your resolutions
In the past I’ve set goals for myself, and I’ve chosen a theme for the year (be pro-active!), but this year I think I will go old-school and actually make some resolutions. Like most people’s resolutions some get forgotten immediately, some make progress in January, but every once in a while one sticks and just one little change can make a profound difference, right?
So….
In 2010 I resolve:
…to schedule my life with structure and intent.
The past two years I found myself passing by significant events that I had to say “no” to because I was too busy in the studio. As I worked through the Christmas holiday weekend (again) this year I was saying “this can’t happen again, I can’t miss another holiday, there has to be a way to avoid this” and that’s when I got that elusive “a-ha moment” and it became very clear to me that I need to schedule and structure my life in a calculated and mindful way and thus PROTECT the events of the year that are important to me. If you’ve been following me for very long you know that I protect my flow of creativity through a process of surrounding myself with an atmosphere of comfort, joy, fun, happiness, etc (see, Chandler & Cleocatra do have jobs). But it’s hard to experience those feelings when you are Mr. Grumpypants because you see so many people saying “I’m out of the office to spend the holidays with my family until January blah blah” and you know your next two weeks are going to be physically and mentally the most demanding of the year.Hello 2010, you will be structured, black out dates will apply.
…to write more.
When I was in 8th grade my social studies teacher Mr. Peterson had us write a series of stories throughout the year. At the end he took me aside and said “you should consider a career in writing”. That meant a lot to me because he was also the teacher that said to the entire class “now Emborsky, for example, could never be president because he is a pollock”. Jr. High is tough.Anywho, again in college I was in a writing course and because I thought I was “all that” (thanks Mr. Peterson) I was devastated when my first writing assignments came back with red marks all over them and very low scores. But if art school had taught me anything up to that point it was that you have to be critiqued in order to improve. Period. THERE IS NO CRYING IN COLOR THEORY!!!! (Well, there was a lot afterwards. I think one of my classmates literally went insane.) So I took what the good professor had written and attempted to improve and by the end of the semester had scored an “A”.
I have boxes and boxes full of notebooks where I had passionately written down every thought, feeling, experience, and angst that my life had shown me. But over the last, say, eight years I have stopped filling notebooks and have focused on other things. For a couple of years now I have blogged and that has indeed been a bit of a release for the creative writer inside me. However I have been so determined to keep this blog “on topic” that I often find myself wanting to write about life in general and stopping myself out of “integrity” and “blog purity”.
Sometimes I over-think stuff. Shoot me.
So 2010 is the year that I fire the writing engine back up and get get jiggy wit it. I don’t even know what that really means but it sounded very street. That’s how I roll. Yo.
…to socialize.
It is so amazingly scarily simple to be in my studio, which is in my home, for days and days without leaving. Sure I talk to my bff Laurie on the phone, a lot, but that really isn’t the same as talking to a 3-D person. Then when I do get out and go to the store, or wherever, I find that I talk the poor clerks head off because I’m either making up for lost time or socializing in advance. Kind of like a squirrel packing his cheeks with food so he can go hibernate again.If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook then you know that I love to cook. I love to experiment and make basic foods into a tasty experience. And as a Cancer there is nothing more soul-soothing than to cook for people, to welcome them into my home and to make sure they have an amazing time. So my resolution is to socialize more, get out and see the 3-D people, and to bring more 3-D people in to my home for dinner parties, etc.
I declare 2010 the year that everything is in 3-D!
…to not hoard.
Hoarding is a tricky little dragon that starts so innocently. “This empty box is the perfect size. I think I’ll keep it forever!” And before you know it you are throwing another empty box on top of a heap in the corner of the studio.I have two vacuum cleaners, one of which barely works and one that is a Dyson. I’m really and truly not a rocket scientist (can you tell) but I think I can figure out which of those two machines to keep. So why is the barely working one still in my life? Because I may need it some day when there is a vacuum cleaning crisis, or they become the national currency?
A little disclaimer, my home/life doesn’t look like the ones that you see on the makeover shows because I have always acknowledged my hoarding tendencies and have kept them pretty well in check. But this year I am going to confront even the tendencies, and recycle the cardboard boxes. Somehow I bet I can find a box in Houston if I need it to ship something. That’s what 3-D neighbors are for, right?
That being said...
Now comes the fun part (and by fun I mean challenging) and that is to a) remember the resolutions, and b) do something about them.
I think I can do it; after all it is 2010 - the year that things go well.
very thought provoking resolutions.
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Sounds like you know "you" Drew and you're gonna get on track with yourself. I hope that the year 2010 will be a big "10" for you!
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I know what you mean about writing! I have neglected that side of me, too, and vowed to do more of it this year. I had an article published years ago, along with variations of the same piece so you would think I would still get excited about it. Need to charge up my netbook...
Good luck to you
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We have a lot of similar resolutions.
Last year, the resolution to make myself take regular time off was a huge help. Sure, my productivity may have suffered, but I like to think that it got better because I took breaks and maintained my sanity. It's a marathon, not a sprint. Make sure you're taking important recharge time throughout the year!
And happy new year!
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Wow, very thought provoking resolutions. They are along the same lines as mine. Last year I did a clutter cleaning of the house and boy did it feel good. Still have the basement to do however it was great to do the rest of the house.
My husband is mor ofa hoarder than me. I couldn't believe how many empty boxes we had in the front foyer!
My main area to tackle this year is my yarn room/studio. I am hoping to do some writing this year, a book and will need to know what I actually have and don't have in the way of yarn, supplies and colors.
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A third part of the fun/challenge is to not give up if you flub occasionally on resolutions. Better to do them imperfectly than not at all. A lot of people give up on resolutions and goals as soon as they make the tiniest mistake or have a setback. I've already flubbed a few of mine, but hello! I have the rest of the year to get back on track.
It also helps to frame resolutions into things you want to do - that are fun and appealing, rather than things you think you should do, and it's easy to get the two confused. I don't even call them "resolutions" because of the connotation that often comes with them. I prefer "mini-resolution."
Might I also recommend starting out easy with the writing. Get yourself to write for just 10 minutes a day for a week or two, then add five minutes and work up to however long you want to write. I made the mistake in reverse last year. I wanted to write for two hours a day, and then started avoiding writing because it was such a huge commitment. I went back down to 10 minutes and worked up from there and it worked much better.
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I teach writing, so your comments about being a student and taking criticism the right way really hit home. I wish more students understood my corrections to their work are not meant personally. If I didn't care, I'd just write a grade and the top and move on, but you are so right. That's how we learn. If not one corrected you, how would you know what is right and what is wrong or how to do it (whatever it is) better? Writing is so personal too. It's not like if you get a math problem wrong and your teacher marks corrections on it. For some reason, no one takes that kind of thing personally!
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Your post thoroughly inspired me, Drew. I actually am aspiring to do most of the things you mentioned for 2010. I really want to try and write more on my blog, also. I received the comment below on my blog the other day. I thought you might get a kick out of it:
>>Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!>> I THINK I was happy about the comment! lol
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I meant "mini-revolution," rather.
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HI Drew! I wish you would write more about "life in general". I bet you have some very interesting thoughts. Your friend Laurie does- and I love to read both of your blogs. Keep up the good work- you rock! (is that street???)
Rhonda
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Wow - are living in my head? Except for the socializing thing (enough of that i my life) we are on the same track for 2010. My key word: Focus. We'll check in with each other at the end of the year.
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Hi Drew! Thanks for your comment on my blog and for your sympathy for my recent loss. I truly found mental focus during my loss by crocheting "Lots of Suds" from one of your pattern booklets I picked up recently. I made a bunch of them throughout the fall for Christmas thank-you gifts to people who lent us great emotional support during our loss. I adore what you do, so keep it up! I will be following you avidly and will always stay hungry for your patterns. You truly do rock!! Best wishes for this new year and always! (aka, Janytime)
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Just checking in on everyone for delurking week and leaving notes.
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Great resolutions! I have to say that I love your tweets about dinner - you've actually inspired me a couple times! Also, I think it's more likely that cardboard boxes will become the national currency, not vacuum cleaners.
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What a great list of resolutions. I think I need to break a bit of my hoarding tendencies too.
Since you like to cook, I have a great recipe for chutney on my blog. I didn't have mango but I wanted a chutney similar to that so I came up with a Papaya, Guava, Peach Chutney recipe.
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