Onward and Upward

I love New Year's Day. It's meaningless, I know, a symbolic transition, but really, when you think about it, symbols and rituals are the markers of our lives: birthdays, the turning of the seasons, traditions and memories that pass us gently from one stage of our lives to the next. For me, by the time Christmas rolls around, the year feels tired and worn out, and so do I. New Year's Day gives me a fresh start, a zero point at which I can draw a line and step across. Maybe it's nothing more than a psychological crutch, but I look forward to it every year.

New Year's Eve here was relatively quiet. Being from south Louisiana, we only had to stroll next door for some great food cooked by my neighbor. We sat around, drinking and eating smoked turkey and andouille gumbo while the kids lit sparklers and laughed in the cold, crisp air. We live outside city limits, so such things are allowed. At midnight, we listened and watched as a barrage of explosions and lights lit up the night sky for at least 15 to 20 minutes. When it was over there was only silence, and the cold, clear darkness. I kissed my husband, the love of my life, and hugged my children. I laughed with my sister. It was a good day.

My hopes for the new year are the same as ever - finish the novel, at last; lose that weight that's been creeping up on me for the last ten years. This year, however, I'm adding a new goal - starting grad school. It's something I always assumed I'd do, someday, and now I am old enough to realize that 'someday' is a concept that is rapidly slipping through my fingers. Life is to be lived, carpe diem as the dead Romans say. Memento Mori. Make 2010 a year in which you do something, instead of a year in which things are done to you. Be alive.

Here's to new beginnings.

02 January 2010

Resolutions for a New Year: 2009 Edition

Is it too late to post my resolutions for 2009? I never write them on January 1st - I like to think about them for a while, contemplate what it is I want to do with myself after all of the sound and fury of the holidays has died down a bit. This year's goals are mainly professional, though the ubiquitous health/fitness stuff is thrown in there as well.

Some people find it juvenile and a waste of time to make New Year's Resolutions. I say we should always have goals - we should always be striving to make ourselves better, to stretch our horizons, to force ourselves to go places we've never gone before, both personally and professionally. The best advice I ever heard from a self-help book/person/whatever (I don't remember the source) was this: Do something every day that scares the shit out of you.

Others deride New Year's Resolutions because they say you should make goals all of the time, that you shouldn't wait until a new year to challenge yourself. Now, I agree with this 100% -but it's important to note that a new year has psychological significance as well - it's a clear cut beginning, a line in the sand, a starting gate. The idea that I'm going to start fresh and ready to go in January helps me to relax during the holidays and not freak out that X,Y, & Z aren't getting done, that I'm slacking off to spend lots of luxurious time with my family. I know that come the beginning of the new year, when everyone goes back to school & work, I'm ready to go. Call it a mental crutch, whatever. We do what we must.

In any case, without further ado, here is the list:

1) Publish (not write, publish) 10 short stories.

2) Write a book. (Not publish, but write, polish, and send out to potential agents)

3) Read 55 books (Up from 50 last year - I ended up with 51, so I figure this is achieveable)

4) Lose 20 lbs (On everyone's list I know)

5) Run a 5K race. (Only about 3 miles - I can do this if I get consistent with my exercise routine)

So there you have it. I try to keep them within the realm of possibility. The 10 stories is ambitious, I know, since I have placed only 2 in the last year, but damnit, you gotta push hard sometimes. We'll see how it goes.

09 January 2009