resolutions

One of the benefits of having a private blog is that, since I know exactly who's reading, I feel comfortable sharing a lot more information than I normally would. (Lucky you!)

As it's a new year (and a new decade!) I've been giving a bit of thought about what I'd like to accomplish this year. I don't necessarily call these personal goals "resolutions" but perhaps that's what they are. I do try to make them fun and slightly challenging. One year I gave up drinking all carbonated beverages. Now, aside from the (very) occasional limonata, reed's ginger brew, or whole foods italian soda, I still have no desire for pop. It's been 10 years.

Last year I committed to buying myself no new clothes. Aside from one outfit for the wedding of one of my best friends, I stuck to that. Obviously that won't last forever (I definitely need some socks and a new winter coat), but I'm thinking that from this point forward, any time I buy something new, something old has to go.

During this 30 days of nothing, I've been thinking a lot about the old maxim that one can "have anything you want, but you can't have everything you want". This has led me to think more critically about the pursuit of happiness, and what that happiness would look like for me and my family (and I firmly believe that will look different for every family). Buying the mirror was, in many ways, an affirmation of our core family values, and I think that we can use it as an anchor, or gentle reminder, of those things whenever we get too caught up in the stuff that life throws at us.

So what do I want? What does my "ideal life" look like?

Strong connections to other people:
I want to start putting more effort into maintaining friendships, and consciously engaging with my children more often. I want to continue developing traditions within our family that we can hopefully begin sharing with our friends.

Prioritizing travel: I want to explore the world. I want my kids to have the opportunity to see the world. I'd love to be able to take the whole family on service-based trips. In order to do this, I need to stop the slow drip of mindlessly spending money on non-essential items so that I can channel that money into a travel fund.

An active pursuit of personal learning and general improvement:
I want to learn Spanish, which would be helpful when I travel, but is also quickly becoming necessary in my field of work. I want to take a process-oriented art class so that I can begin to overcome my fear of the creative process. I want to continue learning to sew, take more cooking classes, and maybe learn to throw pottery. I want to establish a regular exercise routine. I want to do these things so that I don't feel stagnant.

Learning how to appreciate beautiful things without feeling the need to possess them.
This is one of the hardest things for me. I don't really have a clear understanding of *why* it's so hard, but I'll be reflecting on that and thinking about ways to overcome it.

Taking conscious steps to break our dependence on "convenience":
This includes eating more whole foods, consciously considering every single purchase we make, and phasing out (or cutting down dramatically) the use of things like paper towels and ziploc bags.

Making my house a place I actually want to be:
I love our house, but I really hate to clean, and with two small kids and a dog who sheds an unbelievable amount, it's really a challenge to keep up with keeping everything clean and organized. There are days when I look at the state of my house and feel so stressed out by it that I have to leave (which generally involves spending some money on an activity and / or meal out). I want my home to be a place of comfort and peace-- not one of stress. I'm going to try to do better at staying on top of things, but honestly, I think my state of mind would improve remarkably if I hired a cleaning service.

Anybody else have goals they'd like to share?