last second thoughts

It's natural for me to get in over my head with ideas. I'm already starting to think that my list is going to happen far too quickly, so it will be fine to add auxiliary items. Perhaps it is a good idea to give the list one more go through, to determine if any goals have lost their purpose or interest in the last two weeks that I've been working on this.

I've really been wanting to add the goal of documenting and categorizing all spending for a 12 month period, since I think that's a very admirable goal and something that I need to do so that I can actually see what I'm spending on things. Without a real checkbook to balance, I don't really pay attention to the amounts I spend on things. So, I'll add that, but what to take out? "Rollerblade around Greenlake 1x a week for a month" seems a little superfluous after all the other exercise goals. Even in the agony of removing a goal from the list, it's a change that's good and actually makes the list harder. We'll see if I have any more last moment edits before the night is through...

always doing everything at once

New years always mean resolutions, no matter how much I resolve to let myself go past an arbitrary milestone without declaring it important. Last year's January 1st meant a lot to me... it was a true milestone as I came out of my depression, graduated college, and gave away many things, emotional and physical, that were holding me back. I, for once, was able to start the new year with a new journal (leaving only a scant 19 pages in the previous volume unadorned) along with the hopes of writing and making beautiful pages once a day. That goal failed sometime in February, along with a lot of the hopes for a New Start. January and it's concurrent resolutions come once every 12 months, so if I fail... Well, it's a dismal prospect by August.

Enter the 101 in 1001 meme. It is true that giving oneself goals in a time frame where failure becomes an option allows one to get past the "failure equals giving up" problem that I face time and again with resolutions. Thus, here comes a list of what I think are almost too easy goals--goals that I am almost certain to complete 80% or more before 1001 days are up (Sept. 28, 2010). I am not being overly optimistic in these goals for once, although there are a few that will definitely cause me to step outside of the comfort zone (see #22-relearn French, #55-NaNoWriMo, and #85-reconnect with lost friends). The point of this list is for once to allow myself some imperfection, to fail and try again: to miss a day of photo-taking for Project 365 and start again the next day, or to snap 2 the next day and never look back. 1001 days allows multiple attempts at everything on this list (as long as I do more than one thing at a time, I'll be well on my way).

I've noticed that many of these goals are somewhat health-related. Two of my longest categories are "Health and Athletics" and "Food." The biggest category overall though, is split up--my Creative Pursuits. Everything from reading, writing, and creating actual artwork has started slipping ever since I entered a job that I'm constantly becoming more dissatisfied with. I am incredibly dual in my perspective--right brained and left brained, artistic and analytical--which often slips by the wayside when I'm working in a scientific career. It is extremely important that I keep this duality along with my healthy pursuits of physical activity and personal growth... Plus the writing and art goals make for wonderfully specific goals!

The one part of the list I feel compelled to address is the last 6 goals. I have given myself the goals of re-evaluating the list every 6-or-so months and determining another goal to add to the list. While this feels like a cop out, I've dubed it "Ongoing Education" because I feel that without re-evaluation from time to time, my life tends to follow a straight and narrow path that often lands me where I don't want to be. This allows me room to challenge myself further, to change my mind, and to not be so god-damned perfect all the time.

So here's to imperfection and the manifestation of my future!