Friday, January 8, 2010

In 2010 I resolve to .....

..... finally write a post about my New Year Resolutions.

Maybe I'm a masochist, but I actually enjoy making New Year Resolutions. That is to say, I never make the usual ones - eat less, exercise more, be tidier etc - because those are year-round goals for me and nothing about the first of January makes them a special objective. No, those are the ever-present aspirations that I labour to reach every single day.

I've tried the "restrictive" new year resolution too, and that never works. For example, last year I resolved to spend less money on clothes. And failed miserably. If I didn't already know that already, I think the personalised, handwritten Christmas card I received from the Anna Thomas boutique in Little Collins St, would have tipped me off. 

In my opinion, come New Year we should be resolving to do fun things, good things, the things we wish we did more of. Why not try to increase our happiness quotients instead of focusing on the negative things in our lives? One year I resolved to "use my instincts more" and it really worked for me. I think that was the year I ended up moving to Dubai on a whim, which changed my life in many ways.

This year I have some definite resolutions. They include:
  • doing lots of recreational sewing, just for my pleasure, and not letting markets take over my life in quite the same way they did in 2009 
  • doing more experimental sewing with lots of failures that teach me good lessons
  • to make an entire 50s style dress out of Liberty lawn (but I am not allowed to use this one as a failure lesson as I cannot afford to make mistakes on it because oh my god the expense of the stuff) 
  • finally create a sewing room instead of continuing to make the dining table completely unaccessible to anyone else in the house
  • to redo the front garden which is full of horrible azalea bushes with white flowers that I hate passionately - does anyone in Melbourne want to come around and relieve me of six quite well-grown azalea bushes that I'm sure would look lovely in another yard that isn't mine?
  • to try new recipes rather than just thinking about how nice they sound
  • to remember that I am not defined by my day job
I also have a list of craft-specific resolutions which is long enough to require its own separate post, so that will be forthcoming in the next couple of days. But for now, the list above seems pretty good to me - and reasonably achievable, too.

And isn't that the objective, after all? Achieving what we set out to do? The Buddhists say that happiness is the achievement of small goals, and I can certainly put my faith in that. Happy New Year!

7 comments:

Margaret said...

Those resolutions all sound good! And yes, we all have lines and lines of crafty resolutions. Ideas, projects, notions, but the ones you have listed are fab.

BTW, my husband thanks you for the link to Anna Thomas ...

Lou said...

Very inspiring. My front garden is also on my list for this year. Must admit that I sucked in a breath with the full dress of Liberty. Beautiful you are right but certainly don't want to make any big mistakes. Good Luck!

Megan said...

these are great resolutions! a couple of years ago i resolved to try/learn/do at least one new thing each month. was a great resolution and i opened myself up to so many new experiences. good luck with them :)

Cate Lawrence said...

these are great resolutions, I think alot of us are keen to ensure that are crafting includes personal projects as a priority rather than a mere after thought...it's easy to get stuck on the making things to see treadmill...

If you still have them to give away, I'd love the azaeleas, they'd compliment the other plants I have in my front garden :)

Isabella Golightly said...

Hello there; thanks for your note about the pooch, I'm still tearing up a bit when I think about it!

The doggy pattern is a McCalls Craft Pattern, M4893, which I got from Guess Where, a couple of years ago now. If you can't get it, I'd be happy to make a copy & send it to you (purely as a backup, of course ;-))

shannon brennan said...

This was such a great post and such a good idea that I just read it outloud to my boyfriend. During a footbally playoff game. I only had to read it twice for him to hear me too! Thank you

prashant said...
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