Saturday, January 31, 2009

New year resolution

I’ve noticed over the years that I tend to remember what happens on vacations, but that much of my (precious) life between one and another is, alas, a blur.

I am a devoted fan of routine, but it does tend to cause one day to run into the next. There are so many valuable moments that I’m unable to recall in this get up exercise jump in shower jump in car get to office work work work drive back home have dinner watch TV and read a bit before going to bed smudge.

Hence my single New Year’s resolution: to pursue memorable experiences. They can be vaguely romantic (weekend away), athletic (kayaking or rock climbing), or extremely simple, such as making an effort to have friends over for dinner instead of stretching out on the sofa to watch a movie. Don’t get me wrong. Movie watching (and on-sofa stretching) are fabulous ways to end the week - but I can’t even remember what I’ve already seen.

My quest for experiences doesn’t have to be elaborate, doesn’t have to be expensive and must give me joy.

In other words, life needs to be celebrated.

I’m happy to report that so far I turned 40 in Yellowstone National Park, went to LA for the day just to hold my absolutely adorable baby niece, hiked to the top of Montara Mountain, bought tickets to see a play, set aside time to catch up with friends and scheduled a trip to spend time with my family (which is a lot of things, but unmemorable isn’t one of them.)

My hope is this will be a resolution I won’t have a great deal of trouble keeping and that might even stick around long after 2009 becomes just another year.

Photo: www.realsimple.com


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Dushka, I can surely relate to this - especially since I'm not running to any office or work, work, working at the moment. One thing I read recently that I'm implementing is to take notice of one event every day that makes you happy and be aware of it - take it all in. This helps to have a highlight every day to more easily hold on to. Here's to today's happy moment!
Cheers.

Dushka said...

Hey, Laura! Yes, exactly.