I am really excited about my New Year’s Resolutions this year. Since I’ve decided that I no longer subscribe to the notion that resolutions should wait for a new year, or even a new day, I’m starting them immediately. While I have in the past sworn off resolutions, made a list of 20 resolutions (to increase the likelihood of success), and had one all-important resolution (also to increase the likelihood of success), this year I am going to have four. I’ve already written them down, and in the interest of full disclosure, I feel that I should note that they’re in outline form. My whole mind works in outline form.
First, I’m going to read every day. If you know me at all and are now laughing, you hush your mouth. I have loved reading every since I learned how, and I almost do read every day. However, the convergence of a few factors have made me decide to make it a goal to put aside a minimum of fifteen minutes every day for reading. One factor was the fact that it’s taken me a good three months to read The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Given, LOTR is a thousand pages of relatively slow reading. However, and this will only make sense if you love reading too, I’ve now spent a fourth of my year reading it, and the only thing that really scares me about the concept of mortality is that I can only read so many books in one lifetime. I’ve loved LOTR, but I did not intend to spend a fourth of the year reading it. In reality, I’ve read it in large chunks, with often two or six days in between (ok, and a whole other book. I cheated.) This to say, I love reading and there are so many hundreds of books that I want to read and dozens of books that I want to reread reread and I want to make better progress. More than likely, intentionally setting aside fifteen minutes a day to read means that I will usually spend a lot longer than fifteen minutes a day reading, and that sounds good to me.
Next (my little sister recently informed me that the word “secondly” is not actually a word. I don’t know if this is true or not, but I’m now afraid to use it), I’m going to write every day. I love writing. About a year and a half ago, I started this blog, and I updated it a good bit, and I loved it. I love words, and staring at a sentence until it rearranges itself in a way that makes me happy. I love the idea put forth in a college writing class that “there is only ever one right word”, and I love finding that word and hearing the satisfying mental click as the sentence finally expresses what I really mean in the most beautiful way possible. I have learned in the past few years that in order to truly appreciate reading you must write, and that to truly appreciate writing, you must read. My writing comes in bursts to a much greater degree than does my reading, so I think that this resolution will be a little more of a stretch. I make this resolution in hopes that writing truly is like exercising a muscle, and that practice will make it easier and better. I will write by hand, which is easily my favorite, and I will write online. This is preferable for potential readers, because if you keep up with my blog, you don’t have to read all of it!
I gave the next resolution away early- I’m going to blog again. I’m going to blog because I like it. I’m going to blog because I’m going to be reading a lot and I love to tell people what I’m reading and why I love it and why they should read it, and then get really offended when they don’t immediately rush out, buy the book, and read it all in one sitting. I’m going to blog because I like posting things that I write on my blog, and then getting a disproportional ego boost when someone comments that they love it, or that they like it, or that they find reading it slightly better than studying. I’m going to blog because I want to show you my thoroughly amateur photographs, and tell you what I think, and give you updates on my life, and show you things I’ve seen, and share with you my endless, endless lists. I’m going to blog because everyone I love is not in the same place, and I don’t have time to talk to all of you on the phone.
I know you’ve been waiting for it, and it’s finally here – the obligatory “get in shape” New Year’s resolution. Well, I’m not calling it that, because I’ve made it before and it doesn’t work. This year, and I am going to start this one on January 1, I’m going to run 365 miles. You’re right, that is one for every day! I promise not to update you about it more than once a month.
So read my blog, if you want. Maybe you could even start one that I could keep up with? If you have one, let me know. I’m going to post mine on wordpress and tumblr for the time being, until I decide which one I like better. I have some pretty interesting and significant life changes coming up in the next few weeks (omgz cliffhanger!), so maybe it will even be interesting. Then again, maybe it will just be about how much I’m obsessed with my dog. You never can tell.
