double oh seven

Woo! Hello, 2007! Happy New Year, everyone!

I have good news already -- today was my last visit to the wound clinic, and I left with just a bandaid! Now that the bandages are so much smaller, I can see that there is still a bit of swelling and some discoloration -- but everything is healing very quickly. I'm confident that the swelling etc. will soon be back to normal. I am so fortunate to be otherwise healthy!

Now, on to the new year: This year I plan on a lot of hard work -- I can hardly wait! I know that sounds crazy but I since I plan on working toward things I want, I think it is eminently sensible. Plus, I am extremely well-rested if you discount the intermittent insomnia. Here are some of my new year goals, which are more general and Attitude Shifting, rather than a List of Things to Do. I still intend to Do Things (I have a long list!), but these are the things I feel will be more important to me in the long run.

Be More Generous: this is kind of a broad catch-all category that includes being patient, being present and generally trying to develop more generosity of spirit. (which includes being more creatively generous, generous with praise, generous with my time, and trying not to leap to every worst conclusion with such alacrity -- this last one is an especially bad habit I have when dealing with MYSELF.)

Be More Honest: Honesty is important to me, and I never deliberately lie to be hurtful or manipulate (although I'm no saint -- white lies happen and I don't feel remotely guilty about them), but I've found over the last year that I am not always honest with myself (often without realizing it). I've been trying to figure out some of my more opaque motivations, and ... it has been interesting. It's like being a detective facing off against the fiendish nemesis who is always one step ahead. I am my own Moriarty! Okay, possible schizophrenia aside, part of this honesty is admitting to myself that there are things that I want, and that it is okay to want them. (imagine list of the usual New Year's suspects here.)

Let Things Happen: In which I try to get the hell out of my own way.

Work Hard: This really speaks for itself, but I want to note that I consider writing, job-having (with insurance, thank you very much!), and prep for grad school to be my highest priorities. I have been doing so much better about making time for other (non-writing) creative pursuits and walking every day I'm going to assume (ha ha) that I'll continue with those.

Anyway, none of this feels like as dramatic a shift for me as last year's yes campaign, but I think that's a good thing. I think I'm on the right track, I just have to actually, you know, move forward. So, here's to 2007! May it be busy, fun, fulfilling and full of forward-motion. (and alliteration!)

bonus:
song that has been driving me crazy with glee for the past two days: The Memphis Train by Rufus Thomas. Something about the horns, the train noises, and the irrepressible "Wooooooo's!" makes me so very glad not only to be alive, but to have ears!