I’m not big on resolutions. As a matter of fact, I can’t quite remember the last time I made any. For years I’ve tried to strive daily for my goals, in manageable increments: to access where I’m at, determine if I’m where I want to be, and then readjust my sails. Or so I wrote back in 2011.

I certainly didn’t see all the detours and head winds that where coming; all the changes, for better or worse, pushing me along. I would never have forseen the Big C, the unequivocal line drawn in the my hourglass. Thus this past year I implemented a theme instead.

2015 was The Year of Yes

And what a terrific year it was. Even if I ran myself near ragged for others. Returned to the craziness of social media (I’m talking to you Facebook). The good, the bad and the ugly; I wouldn’t change a thing. Because I rekindled old friendships and made cherished new ones, and remembered what if felt like to be alive.

Over the holiday when my mom asked what my resolutions for 2016 would be. I hadn’t a clue. “I don’t have any” I replied.

“What about getting something published” she posited.

“Well there’s a thought” I smirked thinking I’m not good enough for that. And there it was. Not even at the end of 2015 and self-doubt was already trickling in. I wanted to blame it on my cold; the sinus infection that’s threatening my New Year’s celebrations, and my first evening of true adult time in a month.

No matter why it appeared, it needed to be eradicated; given the boot, left in 2015. Hell, 2015 was the year my art WAS published for the first time with my Cell Magazine cover and I’d done my first art show. So, perhaps resolutions were in order after all. It was time to make a list.

For the sake of full disclosure I had made resolutions with DT² in 2014 on the Jewish New Year. Then I hid them away in a very safe place for us. So safe I still have not located it but I have no doubt I accomplished nothing.

Insert sound bite: “Nothing. I know nothing”. (For me this is both Sergeant Schultz and Socrates)

If I were to find my past list I’d no doubt discover I‘ve 24 hours to accomplish every single one of them. Many of whom will be on my 2016 list. If I am lucky there will be at least one I’ve outgrown (much like my clothing this year).

As far as my yearly theme (this shouldn’t be summarily abandoned) I promised, under threat of bodily harm, to make 2016: The Year of Me. This means I am putting myself first and, as my friends insist, bringing “NO” back into my repertoire. I have a tendency to give all I have to those I love, including my reserves. This is a blessing and a curse.

With this in mind and my mom’s question about resolutions I have decided to make a few. Lord help me I make no promises to accomplish any. But it’ll set a tone. Here I go:

Mind, body and Spirit of 2016

• Get into better physical shape: lose 20-40 pounds, strength training, return to modified paleo diet.
• mediate daily: find time to pause. Return to what before the Big C was a 16-year daily practice.
• Finances: Get out of debt, back to black, (Medical bills are killers) Plan for a more lucrative future. The subcategory of this is to sell at least 5 pieces of art. And the ultimate goal (big dream) is to take off and travel regularly. If I can find a way to travel for a living, I’m all in.
• Simplify: clean out the clutter; old books, cds and videos, clothes, paperwork, excess miscellaneous clutter.
• Get something published (even if self-published) 😉
• Finish at least one lingering project: Comic, Croquis book, drawing app.
• Commit to blogging more often in 2016. I am purposefully not putting a fixed amount on this one.
• Begin dating again: Because it is time to invite in the New.

In the end I want to seek new experiences, read more, learn new things, see the world, and tell my stories. I want to remain vulnerable. Live Bold. I plan to chase Intimacy and live life in color.

My inspiration for 2016 is simple.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover.” – Mark Twain

Here’s wishing you all a fabulous New Year. May 2016 be full of dreams realized for us all.