Already here

I don’t believe in resolutions. The word has this air of failure oozing from it. To make a resolution means you resolve to do something: “This year, I’m gonna get it together. This time, I’m gonna do it!”

Despite my aversion to resolutions, I very much enjoy goals. I’ve always been one to thrive off of setting my sights on something and making my way toward it. I enjoy it so much, in fact, that I can get obsessive about my goals. I focus on that one thing without fully living the life that this goal is supposed to improve. So for the past several years, I’ve shied away from goals. I might drift toward something I might think I want, but I’ve never put the kind of effort in which a goal would require.

I think I’ve learned enough by now to balance my sense of determination with my sense of presence in my life. So, it’s time. I made one resolution this year: set goals for yourself each month.

Setting a few goals each month is much less intimidating than looking far ahead at what the entire year will bring. I’m not committed to anything but a few small gestures toward what I think I want in my life at this time. It feels right.

One of my goals for January is to make a total of 4 stuffies (one per week average). I noticed that during the holiday season, when I was making gifts for people, I was so much happier in general. I’d look forward to coming home from work because I knew that I would be able to make progress on my projects. This January goal is to get me in the habit of creating on a regular basis.

And it’s working! I’m so happy to have projects for myself again! And I’m squealing like I’ve never squealed before!

The best part about this? I’m not striving toward some vague idea of what I want to be; I’m already here.

Check back soon for a post about my first stuffie of 2011!