A Still Life

I’m going to keep a running log here of progress on this packing up project. I sense a more organized house and basement by January 31. Good deal!

What I’m ditching in January 2012: Read the rest of this entry →

Since my husband brought it home as a surprise find at the dollar store, I have been reading A.J. Jacobs’ The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment. He’s the guy who wrote The Year of Living Biblically, and this 2009 collection of essays follows nine different month-long experiments from practicing Radical Honesty to following his wife’s every instruction to living by the rules that George Washington followed. As I have read through each month’s practice, I began to see this experiment idea as a fresh way to look at New Year’s resolutions.

Last year I declared that I would finally embrace my body and reconcile the things I know to do with the things I actually do. I am really proud of sticking with the Master Plan and keeping off the 25 pounds I set to lose last year. I certainly have more fitness and wellness goals for 2012, but those aren’t new or particularly inspired. But when I think of applying the Jacobs’ month-long experiment model to my 2012 goals, I get excited.

First, I am not choosing all hard projects or significant life goals. Some may become practices that I carry into the next months while others may be a one-time experiment that ends with the month. The goal is to stick with it for the month and reflect, as Jacobs does in each chapter, on what I’ve learned through the practice. I plan to write about the experience at the end of every month to hold myself accountable.

As promised, here are my 12 goals for 2012:

Read the rest of this entry →