My 2011 Resolution

My sister is correct. Since I push folks to come over to my house on New Year's Day,  eat cake, write down their resolution and THEN, put their resolution on the tree for posterity, I should reveal my resolution too.

The Resolution Tree is pretty covered, what with somewhere around 50 guests each New Year's Day from 2002 to present (with a skip in 2004), and the choices of resolution are a source of fascination and amusement. There are a smattering of similar ones- dealing with losing weight, exercising, etc. Ambitious ones- read the entire Bible, keep my room clean, be nice to other people. Repeat ones- finish the addition, finish the addition, finish the addition... and we have wonderful ones from the littles- some of them no longer little. "Pale violin", "I will not spill my milk", "Go to Gunstatcs", " I will try not to pick up Hamilton", "I will not poot in front of other people". Noble goals, no doubt.

This year I had a hard time narrowing my focus enough on my resolution. And as my waffling continued right through New Year's Eve, into New Year's Day and right to the very last guest, I decided to just lump it together and get it up on the tree. See, I think of my resolution less of getting myself to do something I'm reluctant to do, but rather to give me a permission slip of sorts to enjoy myself. Last year was to complete one thing each month off of my long-term "todo" list. It was great pleasure to say to myself  "I need to set aside time this month to complete ____". In 2009, I promised myself to become more tech savvy. I got some nifty new technology, and learned to use it (mostly). Working toward not becoming intimidated by "the new", not being utterly left behind. Huz snorted a lot about this one. When I made a Facebook, I got snorted at regularly. Scorn I say! Now, he is more active on FB than I am, and his parents now have Facebooks.  I got a smartphone (snortie mcsnort snort), and now at the beginning of 2011- he has one too. And, I am not hopeless on the computer. I can still pump my own diesel.
So, permission is my resolution. And this year, I wanted permission to do so many things! So, I settled (perhaps not too perfectly) on the word "create". My resolution is to create something every month. Create an opportunity, create a quilt, create a painting, create a party, create an event, a thing, a moment. But, do so mindfully. Once a month.