A Still Life

Oh, geez. I had to go and talk a big game about a practice to embrace each month in 2012. I haven’t finished hauling away or listing January’s 31 bags. Frankly, I could have set a goal of 366 bags in 2012 and just kept that practice alone. I have also found that listing out goals for the year makes me want to jump ahead and knock out other goals, too. Appropriately, February’s practice is to be still for a while each day. I admit, I’m 0 for 2. But there’s always tomorrow, right?

My darling friend Jenny is sitting each day this year, and she is blogging the process. Lucky for me and lucky for you! She is lovely and honest and inspiring. Her writing stills me. There is still time for quiet in this day after putting kids to bed, so I may squeeze in a sneaky sit, as Jenny says. What is your growing edge this month? How did those New Year’s goals weather the first month of the year?

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 →