resolve or lack thereof

I hear a lot of mixed opinions on New Year's Resolutions. My mom disagrees with the idea but I'm not entirely sure why. I think it's something about the wording. She calls them Intentions. Kayley Hyde (of 5AG) says she likes to think she can change her life at any time of year.

But I like the idea. I like people reevaluating themselves and their values. I like it when everyone gets ridiculously idealistic. It warms my sometimes shamelessly idealistic but mostly just jaded heart.

With all of their optimism and dreams, I find that a lot of people have similar type goals. Eat better, exercise more, read more (if you're nerdy like that). I want to do all of these things. But why start January 1st? Why not now or yesterday or tomorrow or next month? And what percentage of resolutions actually become reality? Am I being too cynical to assume that most of our hopes and aspirations for the new year get pushed back to the next, trampled and forgotten or guiltily nudged away? Don't we all want to be healthier every year? Well I've been alive for sixteen--you think I would have got around to it by now. And yet I don't have a formula.

A part of me wants to make a set list of goals and rules. I will spend X time running and Y time aerobicizing and buy less processed junk and drink less Starbucks beverages. But at the same time, I don't want to live my life off a piece of paper, counting the number of restrictions and having to ask if I'm allowed to eat this, or buy that or sit on the couch instead of doing yoga. That sounds vaguely suckish.

So without the lingering prospect of guilt or disappointment, because I won't let myself feel those emotions, here are some of the things that I'm foreseeing as being important for me to do/be in the new year in a couple of categories. Don't quote me on any of this.

Continue to pursue creative endeavors

• Blogging, of course.
• Novelling. Specifically, I'm attempting to spend 50 hours editing this past year's NaNoWriMo in January. And after that, who knows where I'll be. 

Learn stuff. "What?" you ask.

• maybe some more Spanish
• more writing craft and publishing tips.
• how to play the ukulele (now I just need a ukulele)
• continue attending Philosopher's Cafes and asking the questions that you can never completely answer.

Self ... improvement? Which I guess all of this kind of is.

• The main bullet point I'm going to write here is Patience. That's right, capital P.
• Imagine people complexly and eventually cease being disappointed when people fail to meet my unrealistic expectations. Respect people for who they are and don't expect more.

Read.

• Listen to recommendations and consider them and then potentially read them.
• Nonfiction for pleasure.

This is a pretty short list, or it looks like it to me, but it could grow. It actually seems exceedingly lame at this moment but I'm hitting publish and we'll see how this goes.

Q: Do you get resolved?