Skip to main content

for the love of a new year

January is my favorite month. I love winter and the hope of snow. I love the end of the hurried holiday season being ushered out by fireworks on January 1st. I love excuses to start over fresh and set newer, better goals. I love my birthday :) I love sharing my birthday month with my sister and my dad. I love new beginnings. I love feeling like anything is possible, and the anticipation of things to come. In January, there's a crisper scent of hope in the air that I look forward to inhaling each year. January has always brought me these things, and I hope it always will.

When I was a kid I would make the B-E-S-T new year's resolutions. I used to make a list of my most heinous vices and swear I'd never commit them again after 12am on 1/1/19--whatever. I'd promise I would be good for the whole year. And after 365 consecutive days of successful bad-behavior-elimination I would be free and clear of ever falling into these traps again. I would be perfect. Perfect. On this list of obvious problems, #1 was NOT that I was never able to accomplish any of this. The biggest, most fundamental problem was I never really thought the process through. So what if I HAD gone a whole year without doing such'n'such? Then what?? Seriously -- what comes next? Life is a series of lessons learned. And in this life, we're never gonna get it all right all the time.

But I still believe in trying.

I'm no longer a maker of new year's resolutions. I don't make them because I know I won't keep them. But I believe in the concept. I believe in making them every day, everytime we fail. I believe in starting over. Every time. I believe in perserverence. I believe in forgiveness each time we mess up.

So I guess if I were to make one resolution on this first day of this new year, it would be this: learn to forgive yourself...it's probably going to be in high demand.

peace be yours in 2007,
emily

Comments

Tanya said…
I heart January, too! Not only because my birthday is in January but because we have several "no school" days and usually some "snow days." :)
John H said…
Peace back at ya, Emily. I think you should resolve to post to your blog more than ONCE A FREAKIN' MONTH!

oh yeah..and Happy New Year!!
John H said…
PS. I am resolving to meet you sometime in 2007 despite what I expect will me Malia's every effort to protect her much younger sister from such a occurrence.
Ramona said…
Hi! Great post, as usual . I'm not a big fan of the winter months, but you have helped me appreciate January a lot more than I did. Thank you and Happy New Year! :), Ramona
Lisa said…
Good post, Emily! I have always enjoyed starting a whole new year, as if the slate had been wiped clean & I got to try to be "good" again. I haven't bothered with new years' resolutions in a long time either. But I agree with your thoughts on making resolutions every time we fail. It was so GREAT to meet you!! I hope John H. gets to meet you soon too. :)
Ellyn said…
I like January only when it snows! This 65-70 degree weather has to go! What are we....in Florida?

Popular posts from this blog

no pressure over capuccino

This morning, my iPod played this song for me. My iPod has been playing this for me quite frequently. Weird considering it's on 'shuffle'. For some reason, my iPod likes this song. For some reason, I like this song. I have a special affinity for songs that reference Jesus and the Bible written by people who don't profess to be Christians (another great one is Dave Matthews' "A Christmas Song"). It's always interesting to see these figures from a secular point of view. I googled the lyrics this morning, because Alanis is Canadian :-p Some of the most important words were not what I previously thought they were. And now I like it even more. Disclaimer: I don't pretend to understand this song completely (especially the origin of the title), but I really like that it makes me think. Any intuitive comments about the meaning of this song will be rewarded with great awe. Side note: all the "90's" references, I think, are meant to convey ...

local Nashville girl turns 30...

...and the intersection of Murfreesboro Rd. and Thompson Ln. wins "No. 1 site for car accidents in Metro Nashville." Coincidence?? I think not. When something this great happens, everyone wants a piece of the action. Finally, the happiest day of the year has come. After a whole weekend of pre-party celebrating, my big day is here, and bigger than ever. I am thirty today. It's been a long road. I thirty year road. I worked hard to get here. Survived countless potential car accidents, dodged all possible life-threatening illnesses, and legions of unknown potential mortal hazards just to be here today. Not everyone can say that. I'm not even kidding actually. I feel really blessed to have made it this far; witnessing tragedy around me, but never really coming face to face with it. I'm not really sure why I get to lead such a charmed life while the world around seems to be crumbling. All I know is I'm thankful. Details to come on why this is the B-E-S-T birthday ...

you are what you see

If you visit here regularly, you may (or may not) have noticed something. I don't blog about t.v. shows. This is because I don't really watch t.v. that much. Yes, I have one, and yes, I have cable. And yes, I do, on occasion, decide to sit down and relax by voluntarily turning off my brain and turning on that blackhole box. But I don't have a show . I don't want a show. I want to explain why. This post is dedicated to those of you out there who have a show, have too many shows, or think you need a show. And you all know I know you know who you all are... Top Ten reasons why you do not need a show: 10. You are what you see. This could be bad if you are watching - well anything. Unless you are watching your own reality t.v. show, and then that would be, just, meta - and therefore redundant, and also a little bit egomaniacal . But I digress. 9. Studies show watching teevee produces less brain activity than sleeping. It also has an adverse affect on your ability to discern...