Lent begins this week, and Guion and I have been discussing our aspirations for this season of reflection and anticipation. These are our goals for Lent:
And for me:
More peace, more grace!
Self, how did you do with your 2012 goals? I’d say… meh.
On that dismal note, here are my goals for the coming year.
What are some of your resolutions for the coming year?
Piecemeal thoughts on a Wednesday:
“Like” and “like” and “like”—but what is the thing that lies beneath the semblance of the thing?
— Virginia Woolf, The Waves
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It is easy for me to forget that God cares about little things. I’m a little thing, after all.
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Even though I very much hope one of the candidates loses, if I am really being honest with myself, I don’t think much will change at all, regardless of the victor. Such is the nature of the American political machine. It has made me an unapologetic cynic with regard to all politicians everywhere. Machiavelli was the one to convince me not to become a political science major during my freshman year and I still think of him when I watch the debates or muddle through social media posts; it’s all a farce, all a dirty game.
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I miss my family.
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I need to read some lighthearted, dreamy fiction. Flannery O’Connor and Jesmyn Ward and Samuel Beckett all back-to-back = Violent, dark times. I need some fluttering, social web-spinning, 19th-century British ladywriters, STAT.
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Lately, I have been so thankful for my job and for the work that I do. I am grateful for my coworkers, for the camaraderie that we have, for the rarity of our very happy workplace coexistence. I love being an editor. I’m so glad I found this profession.
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New Life Goal: Read 100 books a year for the rest of my life.
Click for source.
After tonight’s Ash Wednesday service, Lent begins. It is a season I look forward to, even though it is one of somberness and reflection. I look forward to it for several reasons: Learning the beauty of the liturgical calendar as a recovering non-denominational, cultivating a spirit of anticipation alongside nature, and recognizing our daily need for God, even in the most mundane things.
For Lent last year, I resolved to not eat any synthetic sugar, to pray and meditate daily, and to memorize a poem and a psalm with Guion. The last two didn’t really happen and the first one should just be a life resolution, but I did focus more on that one.
This year, these are my Lenten aspirations:
These aren’t ambitious goals; in fact, they are things that I should be doing constantly. As Liz E. reminded me, though, we’re not seeking Lent surrenders to brag or to highlight how spiritually ambitious we are. Rather, we observe Lent to say: Here I am, waiting. Make me more like you.
Click for source.
In 2012, I resolve to:
How about you? Figured out any of your new year’s resolutions yet?
Me, next year. Click for source.
Yes, I like to make my new year’s resolutions very early. In fact, one could say that I am in a perpetual state of making new year’s resolutions. Continuous goal-making is a blessing/curse we inherited from our mother. (Grace has the worst case of it, but then again, she’s the most accomplished of us all, so maybe there is something to this mania for making resolutions.)
Things I Want To Do in 2012
Do you have any goals for next year already? Am I the only one?
I’ve been thinking about gaps in my education lately. These are some things I should know more about:
The reason why I don’t know more about these things is because, I suppose, I don’t find them fundamentally interesting. Even though I feel like I should. Do you know about these things? If so, enlighten me. I want to know.
I was realizing today that I’ve stopped doing a lot of things that were somewhat routine in my life. All of these new rituals have cropped up and have been replacing the old ones.
For instance:
- Can’t remember the last time I wrote in my journal (I’ve been doing my daily thanksgiving card, though, since January 1).
- Haven’t been reading nearly as many novels (blame that on all the dog books).
- No more yogurt or sugary cereal for breakfast (thanks, Lent!).
- No exercise (OK. I have no excuse. But I have been walking a lot more!)
- No fiction writing (I’m going to blame that on the weekly challenges. And on being lazy/uninspired).
- My Bible/prayer time has become increasingly spotty (no excuses for that).
I miss my real journal, though. I want to start keeping that again. I also miss feeling like I actually had muscles in my legs, instead of just limp fillets of skin stretched over bone. These habits ought to be reinstated. My sisters are very good about keeping goals and meeting them on a daily basis. I’m not sure how they do it, but they are both exceedingly accomplished.
Part of the problem might be this resurgence of my obsessive personality. All other notions and long-term aspirations (such as saving up to buy and learn how to use a DSLR, making my calligraphy business more professional, and going to grad school) have taken a back seat to my current urge to get a dog. Somehow I’ve tricked my brain into thinking that it won’t be that bad to have to wait a year. The Year of Patience! Right?
Still. I feel restless somehow. Like I should be doing something else that I’m not.
That said, the warmer weather is making me feel more alive than I have felt all winter. I’ve been taking long walks with Liz’s Golden Retriever, Bo, and finding excuses to walk downtown as often as possible. It was a long and dreary winter here in the Virginia mountains, but I finally feel like we’re coming out on the other side.
In other news, I’ve been reviving my love of Neko Case, Patty Griffin, and Gillian Welch, because I feel like they are appropriate for the landscape in which we live. My route to work is not especially lovely, but it does provide incredible views of the Blue Ridge mountains on the drive to and from the office. I am always grateful for the glimpses it provides and when Patty Griffin is crooning in the background, it’s just perfect. This is a beautiful country, folks. You should come visit.
… with the exception of Aoive, the Pratt’s beautiful and crazy English Springer Spaniel, who is whining because she can’t stick her paws in my face… We are in Southern Pines again for a few days and will be jumping back and forth from here to Durham for a wedding this weekend. Then we’re back in Davidson for our annual New Year’s Day party. It has been a long, perfect, and peaceful holiday break and I wish it could go on forever. Even Reuben has been having a great time.
I’m enjoying the time to sit, read, drink tea and talk with much-missed relatives. The time to reflect has also allowed me to collect my ideas for 2011 goals. The women in my family are all fanatic list-makers and goal-setters; Grace perhaps most of all. So, family women, here’s my preliminary list:
2011 Goals
Talk to you soon. In the meantime, please enjoy Guion’s face upon opening The Greatest Christmas Present of All Time. Grace, we are indebted to you for the rest of our lives.
We’re setting our 2011 goals for ourselves at work. For some reason, all I can think of is Tracy Jordan, screaming at his attendants: “You need to anticipate me! Where are the French fries I did not ask for??”
Last night, we went to the weekly MFA reading series that’s started up at The Bridge (the hipster arts cooperative a block from our house). It was really fantastic, even though I had to leave before the slam poet read. We listened to a funny, sad, thoroughly postmodern short story by one of the fiction writers, Joe. He was great and the story was great and we hung on his every word. I admired this little community of writers, who have been so welcoming to me even though I am not one of their own. I felt like we were in a Bible study or something, the way everyone leaned on each other and sought vulnerability. A Bible study with gleeful obscenities and 40-ounce PBRs.
We are jetting off for the beach this weekend for the long-awaited nuptials of Rose and Kemp! We’re staying in a house with a bunch of friends and I’m really looking forward to the escape. Let’s hope the hurricanes will hold off for the weekend… Talk with you again soon.
