As the year winds down and I am confronted by the reality of just how severely I've neglected my blog (no doubt leaving countless reader(s) bereft) I offer my hopes, thoughts, resolutions, and wishes for 2010. Everyone else is doing "Best of" lists and the like, but I've decided I'm very ready to be done with 2009 and look ahead to the as yet untarnished promise of 2010.
The six words in the header came from a twitter hashtag...#6wordresolution. I thought it was a fun idea and as the words gradually came to me, I realized that most of what I really wanted to envision and/or achieve for the New Year was encompassed in those few words. So here goes...
1. Write More. That should probably be in BOLD and all caps...WRITE MORE. Whether it's here or in a journal or a favorite old Moleskine is immaterial. I want to write more and I need to write more. 'Nuff said. (And if you catch me slacking, don't hesitate to send on any sort of virtual nudge. I'll more than likely be grateful!)
2. Fear Less. Again, FEAR LESS. As someone who had a nice editorial job in publishing, preceded by fulfilling museum curatorial work, this "freelance" status is difficult. Constantly putting oneself out there, as a possible writer or editor, is difficult and can be rather daunting. It's not the putting oneself out there that's tough, it's risking the rejection of your peers or possible clients. I want to work and "participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world," but the whole "courting process" of finding work can definitely be humbling. But rejection is as much part of all our lives as is breathing or laughing, so there we are. As the quote goes..."Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." So this coming year is about being more fearless or less fearful--either way, it's about reaching and stretching and leaving my comfort zone in the dust. And come on, there are SO many things out there that are more important than silly little insecurities and fears. So like my predecessor, Roald Amundsen, I'm heading for the Poles, gang...
3. Love Deeper. It's easy to make both love and life difficult. And the good lord above (or wherever he or she abides) surely knows that this reigning queen, this empress, this high monarch of the over-thinkers can make anything difficult. (Me and Bette Davis, apparently. And if you've read any earlier posts, you'll know of my undying admiration for Ms. Davis and her many cinematic personas.) At any rate...this is about forgiving and letting go so as to love the good people and good things more. For me it's about not sweating the small stuff and moving beyond the trivialities and detritus of daily crappiness. I think this goes hand-in-hand with No. 2 above. When you're less fearful, you're more open to deep love and the vulnerability needed for it.
This is just my take for the coming year, and I can tell you, it won't be easy. But the great thing? It's going to be worth it. As I explore new horizons in the kitchen and at the paddock; as I fall harder for my now beloved Montreal Canadiens (Go Habs Go!!!); as I cut The Snow Monkey some slack; as I spend more time writing....it's going to be more than worth the mostly small adjustments I need to make.
So here's to the next 100 years of "Les Habitants" and the success and failure that will no doubt exist therein. And to my expanding my cooking horizons...Julia Child you are definitely one of my heroines, right up there with Scarlett O'Hara, Dorothy Parker, Gertrude Bell, Coco Chanel and of course, Velvet Brown. No horsey girl is without a whisper of Velvet Brown about her, trust me.
So let's consider this my ramping up post to the end of the year...I will do a little retrospective because hey, I'm a nostalgia fanatic, what I do best is look back. But that's TK in the next day or so. And there will be horses (why Rachel Alexandra is the ONLY choice for HoY); hounds (hmmm...); and definitely hockey (stay tuned for my photos from the big centennial celebrations for the Canadiens held in early December in Montreal.
Stay warm out there...
