2012

Here I am at the beginning of a new year and I am full of anticipation. I am looking at 2012 as being my best year yet! I have a lot of things I am going to be working on, mainly on myself and I am eagerly looking forward to not only the challenge but the results I am hopeful of obtaining.

I've never been one to make "resolutions". I think that it sets a person up for failure and guilt and I don't want nor do I need to set myself up for any of that! I can't imagine going into a restaurant, sitting down at the table, ordering off the menu and saying "sure, I'll take an order of failure with a side of guilt, please!" Nope, not going to happen in my world. I'm already setting a course of action for myself that will take a lot of my energies, adding in "resolutions" to the mix will only serve to make my original plans more difficult.

Instead, I am looking at a list of "realizations"! Things that I've come to realize over the course of this past year, maybe even my lifetime but that I've been too stubborn or naive or just plain scared to admit to. I think this post today will start off my new year with my list of realizations. I'm also thinking that this list will probably grow and change as my year does and, well, that's a good thing, right?

Here are a few to start my new year with:

1. I'm a short hair girl. Why oh why do I think that time and time again I should grow my hair out? Why is it that I can't be content with the haircut that I truly feel good in, that gains me complements from others and that makes me just plain feel good!? It's short, it's easy and I like it. I am putting down the fantasy of ever having my hair long. I'm okay with it. It's not my dislike of short hair that fuels my need to grow it out but society and it's image of a beautiful woman with flowing long hair that keeps me in a cycle of discontent. Not anymore!

2. I am not a vegetarian anymore. There, that was a big one! I believe that we all go through cycles of our life where our diets and eating habits work for us and then one day, they don't work as well anymore. Since the summer I have added into my diet chicken and fish and I have come to realize that my body just feels better! I am not a fan of red meat, of pork, lamb, or any other types of "meats", just don't have the pallet for them and never will, but I do enjoy some chicken and fish and am not going to "not" eat them in order to keep up a label that I put on myself years back. Labels do not serve anyone well and I'm tired of mine, so I'm saying goodbye to the label! Whew, that feels great!!

3. I am not a photographer! LOL...many of you might be saying "duh, girl, you are no where near a photographer, why would you even think that??" well, it's because I think that for so many of us in the scrapbooking world, where we enjoy the documentation of our memories, we have become increasingly more and more aware of the "photography" aspect of it. Now it's not to say that I don't want to take a nice picture, but the reality of it for me is this, I don't have an eye for photography in it's creative sense. I also don't have the desire to learn how to use a big, fancy camera (even though I own one). I am just a basic, point and shoot kinda girl. A snapshot kinda girl. I'm okay with it. Isn't it really about documenting and capturing the moment, not "is the white balance correct?" or "are the Hue and Saturation or Curves and Levels correct?" I can use Photoshop to help adjust some minor tweaks in a picture if I so choose but I want to let go of the need to have "the perfect shot" every stinkin' time I take a picture! Anyone know of someone interested in buying a gently used Canon DSLR with a bunch of lens'?

4. I don't do enough of the things I enjoy because I spend way too much time on the computer. Wow, this one will be hard but I seriously needed to realize just how much time I waste sitting on the computer looking at Pinterest, Facebook, blogs, message boards etc, when i could be spending that time reading books I love, baking, scrapbooking, sewing, or dancing in my bedroom to some good 70's music..(yeah, I tend to do that...lets keep it our secret...K?).

5. As for my "creative" self, I realize that a lot of what I admire in the papercrafting and art world, while beautiful and stuff I'd like to create, are just not areas of art or creating that I can do. It's just not my art. That doesn't mean I can't admire it, pin it to pinterest, enjoy seeing it, but I am letting go of the fantasy that I can do it too. I'm not cutting myself short here, just realizing what my style is, what my creativity is and being okay with that. In addition to this, I will soon be purging out my "studio" and getting rid of all the things I don't use that I only had because of envy and admiration. I want to be realistic. I think it will be nothing short of a great way to jump start me back into my creative mode!

These are just a few of the realizations I am coming to as I enter into 2012. This year will already be a big one for Mandi and me. Lots of changes coming up in the next 6 months, some good, some bittersweet, some hard, but I will be approaching all of them with hope and faith!


Until next time,
blessings!