Organic Resolutions

I stopped writing contrived New Year's Resolutions some time ago, but each year I find that there are several items that surge to the forefront of my consciousness as "things to work on," or "items of primary importance," that are usually ones that I've started to address, naturally, a while before the first of January.

I hereby declare 2005 the Year of The Manicure--I really want to take better care of my hands.

I hereby declare 2005 the Year of Sitting Still (see post from December 31st) and waiting for direction...also to be known as the Year of The Loosened Grip. I have finally worn myself out trying to orchestrate death defying emotional maneuvers.

I am also making a conscious effort to stop holding the grudges I've nursed. I had a grandmother who could hold a grudge like no one else. She died embittered. I am making a conscious choice to blow out the candle on all my old anger. Revenge, the dish best served cold, will not be on the menu this year. It shall be the Year of Finally Forgiving all The Crap I Could Not Get Over Before.

As a result of this first semester of grad school, I have decided that I really want to teach at the college level--with an M.A. I can do that. This shall be the Year of Mobilizing to Teach Literature and Start Sending out Poems to be Published.

It will also be the Year in Which I Read Anna Karenina and See Nearly Every Jim Jarmusch Film.

What's on your plate for '05?