I was very tempted to title this post "enter the dragon" but decided against it because so far, the year of the dragon hasn't been so hot at all. Unpredictable, maybe, considering it snowed yesterday and this is a city with tropical plants still in bloom. But so far I've felt it best to just ease into the new year and not pound out my resolutions all at once.
So here they are, in no particular order of importance:
1. Be kinder to those around me
I'll admit I'm not the most effusive person around. I have a way of always not wanting to inconvenience others, but I'm beginning to learn that sometimes that just comes off a little cold and unwelcoming. So this year I'm going to welcome kindness when I receive it and accept help when I need it, and do the same unto others.
2. Complain less
Most of the time when I complain it is not until much later that I really had nothing much to complain about at all. Complaining is so habit-forming, and it's certainly a habit I picked up in the form of misery poker back in college that's hard to shake.
3. Read, relax, and meditate
This past semester has made me remember the pleasures of reading for oneself and not for some class or paper or, gulp, thesis. I want to continue reading leisurely, but like Ben Horne in Twin Peaks on his quest for goodness, I too find myself searching for something. Thus I've made a reading list of foundational texts (epics, myths, sagas, you name it) to make my way through over the course of the year. I just received a Kindle as a Christmas present, so this will make lugging those thousands of pages to China next month much more feasible. Despite the switch from print to digital, I want to spend less time in front of the computer and more time cooking, baking, playing music, and any number of things that don't require staring at a screen. Unfortunately my usual hobbies aren't easily achieved here, but at least I joined a gym and get my 2 hours of physical exercise in almost daily. Once I'm stateside I also want to spend more time perusing magazines like Kinfolk and The Gentlewoman.
I find that the more time I spend looking at webpage after webpage and sale after sale and tumblr/facebook/twitter post after post, the more shut down my mind feels. I tried TM a few times earlier last year and it was refreshing, so I hope to start practicing again this year.
4. Reduce, reuse, recycle
Always a must.
5. Purchase no more than 10-12 items of clothing/shoes/accessories
I've already carefully planned out purchases 1-5 for the first half of the year. In 2011 I bought at least 50 new things, not including various thrifted items that I gave away before even wearing. Closet purging is going to be the most cathartic thing. I want the items that I buy in 2012 to be perfect enough that they won't be apart of any such purging in 2013.
I suppose reading these resolutions together makes me out to be some kind of new-agey Berkeley type, but really I just want to not be so aimless in my post-graduate life. In other news, I'll be home in 10 days and I'm taking the GREs in less than 3 weeks. EEK!
0 comments:
Post a Comment