I love social media around New Year's Day. I find it fascinating to be allowed that little peek into the hopes and dreams of friends and strangers when they post their Resolutions. Which is funny, because until this year, barring a 4th grade assignment, I'd yet to make my own Resolutions. Not because I found them trite or unrealistic, insufferable or dopey. Nope, it's simply because I could never think of anything to which I should dedicate an entire year.

This year, I decided not to think; I just borrowed a quote from Neil Gaiman and turned it into a Resolution nebulous enough to appease my big-picture nature, and quantifiable enough to notice when it happens:

MAKE GOOD ART EVERY DAY.

I enjoyed that one so much, I was inspired to create a whole list of quantifiably-nebulous goals to aid and abet my new resolve. With creepy self-awareness, my goals organized themselves nicely into 5 major categories of my life: Work, Home, Faith, Derby, and Community. I then molded each categories' goals into manifestations of 4-H: Head, Heart, Hands, and Health (which is based on Luke 2:52) and ended up with twenty pretty fantastic resolutions. I re-wrote them in the present tense, which effectively turned them into affirmations.

Work:
I spend hours every week being inspired by others' work.
I create every gift I give.
I make Good Art every day.
My workspace is a healthy environment.

Home:
I weekly assess the maintenance of my time, household, finances, and social boundaries.
I spend undivided 1-on-1 time with each child every day.
I consistently stay on budget and on schedule.
I walk, bike, hike, skate, run, etc. for transportation whenever feasible.

Faith:
I keep the Big Conversation going by asking lots of questions and listening more than I speak.
I make decisions based on Love, never Fear.
Every day I do for one person what I wish I could do for the whole world.
I consider my body a Temple of Spirit, and I take really good care of it.

Derby:
I watch a bout every week.
I socialize with league-mates outside of derby-related events often.
I effectively market our league to help increase our home bout attendance.
I train 5 days a week and am committed to a paleo diet.

Community:
I regularly attend city council/borough meetings.
I invite neighbors over for dinner.
I volunteer service to my community every month.
I participate in fitness-based community events every year.

And then I created a goofy display piece to seal the deal.

We'll see what happens.