NOT WRITE NOTES

Johnny Cash, putting your life goals in perspective since 1955. Via Gingerhaze.

Welp, it's nearly 2012.  Not sure where the time went, but happy to have had it.  While end-of-year introspection generally leaves me mulling over negatives (an unfortunate but inescapable habit), I have to admit that 2011 was a pretty good year.  If I had made resolutions, the list probably would have looked like this:

1. Get married.
2. Advance professionally.

Done and done.  We had a fun wedding, an amazing honeymoon, and an intimate courthouse ceremony.  I start on Tuesday in a new position at the same nonprofit where I've been working for a few years, and am crossing my fingers that I do a good job and serve the organization well.  Whatever fitness goals I had at the beginning of the year were more or less not met, so that will be a project for a new year. But on the other hand, I ate (and cooked) a lot of amazing food.  2011 was also the year of not one but TWO totally genuine surprise parties (birthday and wedding shower), and of a pretty lovely bachelorette party.  I did a bit of yoga, I read, I watched movies, I spent time with friends.  I acquired a few nice new possessions, and kept an impressive quantity of indoor plants alive.  I survived being a bride and a bridesmaid. I got drunk at a zoo.  I got drunk at a butterfly garden.  I saw family.  I saw  Carhenge.  I drove across the country.  I touched a dolphin, and saw a shark in the wild.  I snuggled my brother's dog.  I gave (and received) a fair number of high-fives.

2012 has me feeling similarly ambitious.  On the slate:

- Read Ulysses
- Read more in general
- Meditate more/take a meditation class
- Record my dreams more frequently
- Write in private journal more
- Blog more regularly, if not more frequently
- Move to a bigger place, preferably one we own, preferably with a yard
- Get a dog?
- Improve aerobic fitness
- Find & go to a new dentist
- Floss
- Drink more water
- Beat Portal 1 and 2

I'm also toying with a year-long project, or series of projects, to keep me engaged and/or trying new things.  The basic idea is to have a theme for each month and to pursue that theme, in whatever way is most appropriate, as consistently as possible, throughout the month.  My early ideas for this were based on different types of deprivation, which has its place for sure, but I'm trying to keep it flexible and also productive.  So far, possibilities include:

- Minimize and when possible eliminate animal-based foods for a month
- Forgo TV for a month
- Avoid online social networking for a month
- Crafting month
- Meditation month (perhaps my own 28-day meditation challenge)
- Journaling (or dream-journaling) every day for a month
- Running month?  (w/ help from the Couch to 5K app)
- Guitar month (note: this would require obtaining a guitar, as the bro has reclaimed his)
- Writing (of the non-journal variety) month

I'm going to start with no-animal-foods for January and see how that goes.  I think it will be really, really hard and involve a lot of peanut butter, hummus, and rice with beans.  Hopefully enough veggies to keep things moving as well.

The worry, of course, is that I am generally much better at making lists and devising projects than I am at following through on them.  E will hopefully help me with motivation, although he's been a pretty hard sell on the whole no-cheese thing so I'll be going that bit alone.  Other than that, I guess all I can do is keep moving and take it day by day.

Happy new year, all!


Annnnd GO.