I Resolve To...

Do yourself a favor and press play before continuing reading. How can you say no to the Beatles??!

Here Comes the Sun- The Beatles

Okay here it comes, my New Years Resolutions for 2011.

I always strive to improve my quality of life every day, but I think it is refreshing to have a set date where people can state their goals that they are going to work on.

Also, I have discovered the wonderful photo editing world of picnik. So I had fun editing all of the photos for this post. Something you can look forward to as this little blog of mine progresses. Let me know what you think!

So without further ado...

1. Drink the wild air.

My favorite quote in existence is from Ralph Waldo Emmerson

"Live in the sunshine,

swim the sea,

drink the wild air."

I live by that last part "drink the wild air" all the time. It has become my mantra. To me it means that you are not only breathing the air, but that you are drinking it, consuming it, letting it become you. It means living the moment and appreciating life's oysters and not just its pearls.

2. Practice Radical Self Love:

I read about this movement on Gala Darling's blog and fell in love with it. She comprised a list of 100 ways to start loving yourself. This concept seems to be a given, but too often we fall victim to feeling guilty for self indulging. I wrote out this list and added some of my own (to come in a future post) and hung it on my wall. They have been up for about a month now, but I just reread them for the first time yesterday. So my goal is to not only read them more often but practice them more often.

3. Enjoy the Outdoors More:

As soon as the weather warms up a bit more (at least another 3 months) I am going to work on being outside more. Biking, hiking, gardening, walking, camping, etc. The outdoors is my happy place, yet in th past I have not spent enough time outside enjoying it.

(photos from this past year of enjoying the outdoors)

4. Take Ballet:

Just like every other little girl, I took ballet when I was younger. But I quit after about a year. Inspired by the movie "Black Swan", I have decided to start taking adult beginners ballet classes with a friend. I don't expect to become a prima ballerina by any means. But hopefully through these new classes I can become more in touch with my body and embracing my femininity. Which leads me to my next goal......

5. Maintain my weight once I reach my goal and embrace my femininity:

I have been cooking healthier foods and eating smaller portions and have lost some weight and I want to make sure that this year I maintain my weight. I also want to allow myself to feel sexy and embrace my femininity. In the past I have almost felt like being in touch with my femininity was frivolous and rather pointless, but recently, as I have been feeling more in touch with my body, I have felt more in touch with embracing being a woman. I take time to do little things like paint my nails, wear lighter colors, do my hair, play with makeup and put together cute outfits. It's little things like these that can really shape your day.

6. Start a garden a learn sustainable gardening practices:

Being that I am cooking more, I cannot wait until spring rolls around and I can start a garden and cook with foods straight from the ground. One of my favorite blogs, Aura Joon has some great fresh recipes and gardening advice. Go check her out!

(some art I have created :))

7. Communicate more effectively with my family and spend quality time with them:

I feel like I spend a lot of time around my family but most of it is not quality time. Enjoying the holidays with them made me realize that we shouldn't need an excuse like the holidays to encourage us to spend time with our loved ones. Family movie and baking nights are so much fun. So I want to incorporate a bit more of that into our family.

8. Let people know how much I appreciate them.

Compliment strangers as well as people you know. Make a conscious effort to put a smile on people's faces.

9. Make more experiences:

This is a major one. I want to make a conscious effort to put myself out there, meet new people, to not fear awkwardness or occasionally making a fool of myself. As much as I embrace the inner 70 year old lady inside of me who enjoys drinking tea and reading before bed, I don't want to look back when I am 70 years old and realize that that is all my life was; tea and books. This ties back in with drinking the wild air. I want to drink it and live it. Think of all the things we could miss by not taking risks.

I don't have a tenth, but I would like to end this post with a reflection on the past year. Looking back at my New Years Resolutions for 2010 they were: to cook more, exercise twice a week, be more selfish (doing more things for myself), say what is on my mind more, travel, read more and to continue to develop this little blog of mine.

Well, I definitely cook more and have come leaps and bounds from where I was before. I just recently started excersizing more, but hey that still counts right?!I have definitely been selfish, but in a good way. I did one of the hardest things I have ever done by ending a long term relationship that I knew was no good for me. That feeling alone is amazing. To know that I know myself enough and love myself enough to know when something is not right for me and to then do something about it. On to the next resolution, I still don't speak my mind as often as I should. I know this will forever be a struggle for me, but I feel that I am coming into my own, and I definitely voice my opinion more. I need to get over the fact that I can't please everyone and I need to learn to not take things personally. After all, everyone's reactions are a result of their own experiences and their own views on life. I have done quite a bit of traveling this year, from Florida to Boston and Cape Cod. I hope to do more traveling this year, hopefully to Seattle and Costa Rica. I definitely read more. Every night in fact. I have developed my blog more and feel that I have found the right balance for my content material.

I look back at my blog post from last New Years Eve and feel that I can say with such pride that I have come such a long way. I feel I almost don't recognize the woman I was then. That is not to say that I will ever forget, because she has helped me to become who I am today. But I look back at that post, at how out of control everything felt, from my relationship, to my studies, to my body and to life and time in general. I went from indecisiveness to doing what I knew was best for me. I went from fearing life and the passing of time to embracing it, consuming it and living it. That put's one of the biggest smiles on my face.

So I can end this by saying that 2010 brought many hurtles my way but I have learned from them all and they have made me stronger. I look forward to what 2011 has to bring. I feel it's gonna be a good one!

Oh also, if you have mad it this far I seriously applaud you. Keep an eye out later for some changes on the blog, including a new name! Soo exciting

XXXX

images via: my phone and weheartit.com