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As I wrote on my own blog, I have a sort of love/hate relationship with New Year's resolutions: I feel the need to make them, but I do so grudgingly, with the nagging doubt that I'm just setting myself up for failure.
Incongruously, however, I do love a good to-do list. I love how it feels to scratch through each completed task. I make them daily, and I love how productive I feel at the end of the day, even if I haven't finished every item.
Ultimately, I came up with a to-do list, a sort of "9 for '09". I'm rather pleased with the list, even though it feels a bit long (but hey, nothing like a little challenge, you know?). Still, I thought I'd surf a bit to see what others are doing -- and it turns out, people are coming up with all sorts of twists for New Year's Resolutions.
For example, the lovely Angela of Fluid Pudding has boiled her resolution down to three simple things: Brotherly Love, Soft Core Narcissism, and All Ears. Which, when you read about it, makes total sense.
And the inimitable Ali Edwards blogged about her word of the year - and oh, how I love the idea that a year's goals can be boiled down to one word, a sort of mantra to keep in mind as you go about your daily life. Ali's word is "nurture." I think my word will be "true." What will your word be?
Also, the oh-so-wise Brené Brown talks about 2009 being her "year of the superpower" -- it's about discovering your innate superpower (since we all have them), and honouring it, while using it for good and not evil. Such a great notion -- it will sort of ensure you live your most authentic life, don't you think?
And finally, one more thought: yesterday, one of my BlogHer colleagues, sassymonkey, e-mailed us about "vision boards." Basically, these are boards that you create that provide visual images of your intentions for the new year -- goals you'd like to achieve, aspects of your life or personality that you'd like to improve, or changes you'd like to see happen. The thinking is that by actually getting these down on paper, or making a visual road map placed prominently in your home, you are more likely to manifest these intents. She even sent us an older link to Christine Kane's blog, describing how it's done.
Man, I was all over this. Mainly because I love tools that help you manifest your deepest, most heart-felt intentions.
But also because, my friends, when you have a 4-year-old who's on her second week out of preschool, and you're running out of things to do with her, this is Activity Gold.
My daughter Alexis and I found ourselves at our local art supply store, where we purchased art boards, rubber cement and, of course, stickers (because when you're 4, no art project is complete without stickers). When we got home, I pulled stacks of magazines out of the recycling bin, and we sat down at the kitchen table.
"Okay, Alex," I said, "here's a pair of scissors. We're going to go through all of these old magazines, and I want you to pick out pictures you like. Pictures that look like what you want to do, or be during the next year. It can be anything you want. Then you're going to arrange them on the board in the way you like, and I'll rubber cement them to the board. Okay?"
She went to work. She picked all the pictures she wanted, and cut them out herself (or asked me to help on the trickier bits). Then she arranged them on the board. After I stuck them down with rubber cement, she added stickers. I added her name at the top, and "2009" on the bottom. And then we modge podged the entire production.
The following are the results:
In case it's not abundantly clear (because ... well ... it isn't), Alex's is the one on the right. Also, judging from the images Alex chose, 2009 is the year she's going to be a princess, Tinkerbell, and an incontinent cat.
Like I said, it's good to have goals.
Happy New Year, everyone. May your 2009 be full of many, many triumphs.
And um, few, if any, incontinent cats.
