New Year's resolutions.......

Oh that's too funny. I re-read through my earlier posts from the beginning of 2007 and finally found what I was looking for, the post where I wrote out my 'New Years resolutions for 2007'

I think I achieved three and a half things (does that half count?) from this list. Overly ambitious with a newborn and at that point three year old in tow...plus taking up freelance work, thinking I was SUPER MUM, when baby was 3 months old and wonder why I hit the wall around Aug-Sept 2007... Cleo came everywhere with me, to see clients in showrooms then you remember this debacle...see: post "Taking up the Challenge" I slowed down briefly and then sped right up to the point that I could feel it happening again and then I took a holiday... That in brief was my year in 2007, not to mention time for exercise...Huh! The occasional walk was all...

We also in the year 2007 lost two friends, one to suicide, another in a motorcycle accident, a hugely confronting thing to happen once but twice in one year? It really gives you so much perspective as to where you are at in your life in terms of not so much achievements but maybe what you may take for granted? How you approach your day to day existence? What attitudes you begin your day with? What you place importance on? What you waste energy on? (Like seriously sweating the small stuff- cliched but true!) So many questions and philosophising.... Considering all this and all the other things that happen in year not to mention the birth of our daughter! We will always be celebrating that event. Yet life takes you on these unexpected twists and turns and the one aspect that truly resonates with me is not getting past it but how you handle the 'situation' either in that moment or along the way. You may not exactly want to reflect on the lesson at the point that it happened, but you will, if indeed there was a lesson and that is why it is so important to take time out and have 'breaks' and 'holidays' away from friends and family. Even if it's for a day trip, just that moment in time when you can allow yourself to relax, to reflect and recharge. Then reassess ones motivations, goals and to a lesser degree expectations and then enjoy the new roller coaster ride that each year brings... 'Bring it on 2008', I am looking forward to this year with relish for so many reasons......

So that brings me back to New Years Resolutions it's a necessary process, a ritual and tradition... WE note it by "thinking about it?", Writing it down, drawing it, sketching it, talking a lot about it.. especially if it's to do with any vices such as 'smoking', 'drinking' or good intentions...'exercise/losing weight' (go hand in hand mostly), 'eating better' and of course there are the creative pledges 'I'm going to cook more creatively', 'craft more', 'paint more', 'write in my journal daily'....plus lets not forget the 'adventurous pledges'.. travel 'this' year, jump out of a plane, bungee jump (I'd wimp on this one!) all the things that give us an adrenalin rush... so I have had time to reflect over the course of the three week break I have had from working and all my other commitments, to reassess. There were and are some difficult questions out their folks with answers that still require a little more time, dare I say, but for the interim, I have put together a small list of fives things that I feel are achievable for 2008:

1. 'Not yell so much'...Did I write that? Yes, I did...a family trait that makes me wonder if there must be some old Polish Jew connection (listen to my neighbours and you'll know what I'm talking about) in my lineage that makes me (note *excuses*) to speak like I sound *cross* at a volume that the whole street can hear. I wanna change that about me.

2. 'Create a portfolio' of work that truly reflects my abilities in all areas of design. ( I will elaborate on this more later)

3. 'Meditate' Not so literally in the classic crossed legged pose chanting "Om". I wanted to add this point more as a philosophical aspect. Taking time out for oneself. Whether I catch a movie every couple of weeks by myself, catch up with a friend or five for a coffee, yoga class or at the pub. Visit the Art Gallery and have that time to ponder, absorb and delight (amongst other stirrings). Keep writing, reading, dreaming and get that creative side motivated. The one that isn't tied to work related material.

4. 'Keep paying off' whether it's 'debt' or 'in kind' or 'paying it forward' we always have an amount of debt that we take with us and I plan to honour it all... it's all part of that savings plan...

5. 'Travel' The one that binds all that happens throughout the year. It is these moments that create some of our best experiences as individuals or with friends but this year especially with our family unit. I am looking forward to many more coastal trips no matter how long or short they are, for those days where you can frolic on the beach, in a park or down a lane way are momentous. We all make a discovery along the way through a story, an observation, a find or keepsake. These are the moments to cherish the sense of discovery, of new experiences and shared experiences.

2008 will be for me about REJUVENATION and the 'Shared experiences' and I look forward to sharing with you as they unfold. What's your year looking like?