Non-Resolutions

{This photo is not filtered or touched whatsoever...this was the actual sky the other night and it blew my mind. The light was purplish/pink. It looks like someone painted the snow.}

I've always said "I don't do resolutions," but that's not strictly true. Subconsciously, I make resolutions all the time. They come in the form of goal lists, idle dreams about who I want to be tomorrow, reaffirmations of things I forgot I wanted in my life. I'm constantly reawakening to myself.

The New Year holds a lustre because it gives us a solid point to cling to and say "this is where it changes"; we as humans need that. I used to count on the new school year to be my turning point--that was more of a "New Year" to me than January 1st. I would jot down notes to myself of how I was going to be totally different this grade...things like how I would dress, how I would act, what I would eat. Those things were so silly and they never took because they weren't who I was. I couldn't casually start speaking or dressing or acting in a way that wasn't me just because I thought it was how I should be. Those things are just the trappings, the dressings of our physical person, but it's not real-it's not who we are.

The past few years I "haven't done resolutions" because "I don't do them"...but I do make yearly Bucket Lists now, and that I really enjoy. Last year I did it in the form of a "23 before 2012" to incorporate my age and the year. I didn't get them all done, but the funny things was that I forgot to look at the list after about April and yet I was still able to cross off so many things.

I don't like the idea in general of resolutions because I've always noticed that the trend is for people to bite off more than they can chew and then inevitably fail, or feel that they've failed. I don't think we should set ourself up for failure. I'm not saying it's a bad thing to have goals--we should set them our whole lives and strive to reach them. But I don't think we should look at a date on a calendar and place all sorts of heavy expectations on ourselves based on it. With my lists I like to mix serious and difficult with simple and good. Some of the items on my lists may seem silly, but they are actually all things that I don't do or want to do more of or have never done, so although they may be easily attained, they are still new and fun for me--thus I can do something new and interesting in my new year while still maintaining a feeling of being successful.

{Last Year's List:}

{23 in 2011}

1. Learn how to knit booties or a hat. Knit said booties or hat for my nephew.
2. Paint a picture.
3. Spend more time doing good deeds for strangers.
4. Spend more time doing good deeds for friends and family.
5. Have a job in the U.S.A.
6. Find a church to attend.
7. Visit Cristina in NYC.
8. Go to Rhodes for homecoming.
9. West Coast road trip.
10. Reunion with my Salzburg girls.
11. Take a dance class.
12. Go on a date.
13. Read 23 books (or more)
14. Become a regular somewhere.
15. Find a volunteer effort to join.
16. Get better at sending mail!
17. Write a poem.
18. Keep a daily gratitude journal.
19. Write something I like and let someone I love read it.
20. Move into my own apartment in the U.S.
21. Photo shoot on top of Pike’s Peak.
22. Meditate on a mountain hike.
23. Pick a cookbook and fix every recipe.

*I didn't cross off 3&4 because I don't think those are acts that are ever finished.

My Bucket List for this year isn't complete yet, but I do have a few things in mind. I'm not aiming for 24 this year, I'm just adding things that I've wanted to do but need a little extra incentive for. Lists are ALWAYS incentive for me because I love checking things off.

I've already started on my list.

{2012}

1. Cook every recipe in a cook book

I love to cook. It actually really calms me and makes me instantly happy. I've noticed it's a sort of therapy for me. One night when I was super unhappy, I started to cook and I got lost in the process. The chopping, stirring, melting; the delicious smells and sneaking tastes.

This is not the Julie/Julia project. Again, I don't believe that happiness results from biting off more than one can chew and for me a book with 500+ recipes and techniques too far beyond my skill level would probably just conquer me. It would never get done and then I'd have to count that as a failure.

Instead, I picked "The Pioneer Woman Cooks" by Ree Drummond.

I've never actually read her blog, but her book fit my goal for a few reasons:

-It has only 64 recipes; So I can plan to cook on average once a week and easily get this done

-I actually want to eat 95% of the recipes

-The ingredients generally don't look hard to find or too expensive

-The recipes will at times challenge me but not so much that I feel overwhelmed and don't try

I did 2 recipes today: a breakfast dish and then Sherried Tomato Soup tonight. Oh my gosh, delicious. I just have to say it: Alcohol is a GREAT addition to most dishes. I seriously love the flavor it adds. This is up there with Cabernet sauce.

Yum!

Some more thoughts for my 2012 Bucket List:

2.) Keep fresh flowers

{My sister got me this gorgeous vase for Christmas. I am obsessed with it.}

3.) 365 Day Bible reading plan

4.) Less photos, more appreciation (this is hard for my blogger-programmed brain, but I feel that we often focus too much on capturing a moment on film and forget to just savor it.)

5.) See The Hunger Games with Lauren, Abbi and Marci in Arizona at midnight

6.) Take a Colorado day trip

7.) Have a tea party

This is as far as I've gotten so far.

Do you have any ideas for fun additions to my list?

Happy 2012, everyone. I hope all your reasonable and wild dreams come true. But mostly, I hope you learn something.