resolve

In 2010 I chose to start not with a resolution but with a thesis statement, guided by body paragraphs and soul alike. In this year I will seek to be braver. I will do the things that I want to do, instead of believing that I can’t or worse, thinking I can so never trying at all and forgoing that accomplishment. I will take risks, arrows will fly at targets only previously imagined and usually quashed. Above all else, I will live with the grace and consciousness that comes with knowing I may fail at each and every task I undertake; but I will fail with aplomb, I will fail with style, I will fail with laughter and I will fail knowing that I tried my hardest.

I’ve looked at the little things I want to do, the big things, and I’ve boiled them down to a choice few that will take me through this next year, and hopefully contribute not only to what I want to do in my life, but who I want to be.

Without any apology, these are not BIG things. There is plenty of time in the months and years ahead to do big things, to lay big plans, to make things happen. What I hope is that with these small choice things being completed month by month, I will become the braver person who can do those bigger things without hesitation. Hell, if finally making a good lemon tart and sewing a summer dress gives me the courage to book a ticket to Africa/Russia/Mississippi, there is no harm done here. So here they are!

{January} - Tricked you. This one is a surprise! January’s resolution is definitely underway, and has been for about 12 days. I’m really excited about this one – lets just say that it helps me with my goals of reconnecting to a community, supporting and fostering other artists, being honest about my love of writing and a place to exhibit it, and tie that sucker up with a big bow of “looking my best” in all areas of my life. And surprisingly, this one has little to do with Interpretive Dance.

{February} - Try one new recipe a week/photograph and blog it! This month is a twofold resolution. First and foremost it’s about reconnecting to how much I love to cook, and consciously being aware of what and how we eat. We’re both really interested in taking the time to sit down at a table, talk, enjoy our food and each other. We have an incredible amount of talent, food resources and inspiration around us here in the Maritimes, and I want to be able to take advantage of it. What is perhaps equally as important to me is sharing the love of food that my family, and largely my mom, has cultivated in me – which is where sharing it with you comes in! Committing to reviewing and publishing it means that in some small way, I get to have you at my kitchen table with me.

{March} - Take one intentional photo per day for 30 days. This is a “Don’t know until you try” resolution. I love my camera, love it so much that I want more. Flashes, lenses, new bodies. But in order to justify purchasing another camera or more equipment, I want to know that my abilities will extend to meet whatever technology I put in my hands. It’s been a long time since I took the time to actually learn a craft more than haphazardly or fleetingly. Photography is something I love so much, and use so little with intention.

{April} - Sew, and wear, two pieces of summer clothing. My grandmother that passed away this summer was a maverick with needle and thread. We all have gifts of quilts from both her, and her mother (my great grandmother) constructed with everything from old woolen jackets and air force uniforms to the softest cotton sheets. These quilts keep you warm in ways that only grandmothers and their craft can. I want to construct something for myself, perhaps nothing with as much weight or significance, but something that stitches me to them and their abilities in the same way.  This is a small step to knowing and feeling my history, and carrying it with me – light or heavy.

{May} - Commit five random acts of art in my town. This task will definitely fill the badassery quotient in this years resolution plan. (And will be further defined once we reach May). I have moved so many times in my life, and sometimes, other than the people that I’ve met in the places that I’ve lived, I feel like I pass from city to city and town to town without leaving any indication that I was there. It must be that as I get older I’m looking to leave some sort of flaming Z in the wall of the places that I go. Yes, I referenced Zoro. I figured a resolution involving random acts of art  was the place to do it.

{June} – This one is also to be announced. It’s a bit of a venture, a little  bit of a reach, a tiny bit scary and more than a little bit time intensive. But it is also delicious, and I’m really really excited about this one.