Not Resolving To Do More ... The Fifty-2 Weeks of 2013 Project

I don't remember when I stopped making resolutions. I don't remember how long my resolutions lasted. They were usually mundane stuff, well, now mundane - lose weight, eat better, write a diary, blah blah. I don't think I took resolutions very seriously at all and then I found the exercise pointless and stopped making any, though I do think about them whenever the new year comes around. This is not to say I gave up on the resolutions but I didn't organise my life around them. So while I'm fairly obsessive about losing weight and eating better, I don't have a goal because it makes me sad when I don't achieve it by a certain date. These are constant, ongoing projects for me.

Then a couple of years ago, I was so irritated by the yelling-shrieking-holier-than-thou-intolerant-of-others anchors on the news channel I generally watch, and I resolved to watch less of it. I succeeded. Though I would choose that channel by habit, I would click away and watch another.

This year too, I don't have any resolutions, just some amorphous thoughts. Maybe I could describe them better as being halfway houses between thoughts and resolutions, teetering on the threshold of crossing over to resolutions, me unwilling to make the commitment. What's the point of starting out with great ceremony (even if it's limited to your own mind) only to feel misery and self-loathing for grand goals not fulfilled later? Might as well cut out the mental pomp and formality and strive for whatever you want with some sincerity unfettered by a starting date and an ending date. That said, January 1 is a nice, clean, easy-to-remember date to start on.

Getting more social: Maybe I'll get more active on Twitter - I've got an account and have signed on to follow some folks whom I know through work, but I rarely visit it. Keeping up with work, life and other social media is quite time-consuming, do I really need another? Maybe not, but that's where the vocal, the bold and the beautiful seem to be saying a lot and I don't want to miss out.

Itchy feet: Another nebulous thought is about making the time for more travelling, even if it's a short trip. I have promised myself, and my friends, at least three visits in total. None of them worked out and one friend is moving away from the city where she now lives that I want to visit. I have to get there soon. The last time I went there six years ago, it was so cold during this time that I had to rig myself out in woollens from top to toe, replete with mittens, two blankets underneath me, five above and a room heater. My host told me she didn't tell me the temperature dipped to zero in case I felt colder. But still ...

Some other thoughts: Learning something new, be it a craft or some music; being less obsessive and more easy-going about certain things; watch more movies; volunteer; even more home-cooked meals; taking healthier snacks to work, not giving The Spouse a hard time ...

This morning, as soon as I returned from vacation, I told him I had made some resolutions.
"Oh?" he said.
"For you," I said. "You will give (the ironing lady) the suitcase full of curtains that we washed about a month ago. You will empty your writing desk and move it out of the house. (This is so that we can make more space in our TV room for the recliner we bought recently. He promised.) ... And you should get the plumber to check on the heater in my bathroom." I forgot the third. I would have woken him up and checked but I had decided to be easy-going. Luckily, he woke up and remembered. Now let's see if he sticks to his resolutions.

And best of luck with yours!

The Fifty-2 Weeks of 2013 Musings