I think resolutions in general are a bunch of fluff. People say them, but they know by the time next December rolls around all the other people who heard them will have forgotten all about them. Yeah, I want to lose weight. Do I set a goal for poundage? What happens when it gets to December (the worst month to lose weight) and I haven't reached the goal? Do I starve myself then so to reach the goal? A more realistic goal might be to live a healthier lifestyle. I think everyone can agree that almost everyone around us could stand to do that.
Resolutions are good intentions gone astray. Lose weight, be kinder, don't have so much road rage, don't sit in front of the computer so much. Can you see a pattern developing here? And as I'm proofreading this entry, I think I'm trying to talk my way out of making anything. The photo above is from last January 1st. Not much alcohol in that shot as most of it is sparkling apple cider bottles. No one went home drunk from our party last year or the year before. So why did I wake up with a headache this morning? Probably because I didn't get enough sleep the night before. Eh. I'll live.
Changing subjects a little here. Yesterday was the first day in 732 days where I didn't turn my camera on and take a photo. I started the 365 project in earnest on January 1st, 2011 and faithfully took at least one photo every single day for the next two years. It also includes the last two days of 2010 which is why the number looks a little odd. Yesterday, the 366th day of the year and a bonus day for a 365 project, I chose to make a collage of my favorite shots from last year. As I noted on the photo page, many of these shots are sentimental favorites. There's a shot of my wife on our 25th anniversary. There's a shot of my daughter graduating from college. Other shots are artistic in nature. Still others are shots where I just got lucky, like the one of the hawk soaring. I happened to be in the right place at the right time.
Some of these shots made the popular page at the 365 Project. In reality, I feel they all should have, but then again I'm biased. I resolve not to take it personally when one of my shots doesn't make the popular page. That should be easy since very few of mine ever see the light of day on there anyway.
I guess what this ramble is really all about is that I'm back here again after a long hiatus. I resolve to write more this year. I hope you resolve to read this again. Thanks for stopping by. I'll be back shortly.
My resolution will be to try and read all 100+ posts on your blog this year. Gail & I wish you and yours a Happy & Healthy 2013
ReplyDeleteMy take on New Year resolutions is simple: "You can't break 'em if you don't make 'em." I make resolutions all the time, and wind up breaking many of them, so why should I put special emphasis on one particular day? I try to make myself a little better every day, and often don't succeed, but over-all, I think I've made a little progress over the past mumblety-mumble years ;-)
ReplyDeleteMore important, I think, than working on myself is this: I try to make the world just a little bit better every day. In a bookstore, and I see a book mis-shelved? I'll put it where it belongs - it often is just alphabetized improperly - or at least put it out where an employee will see it quicker, if I'm not sure where it goes. I spent years working in bookstores, and almost as many in grocery stores, so I'll pick up a box that fell off a shelf and put it back. It takes almost no time, and it is easy enough. I make a point to always use my turn signals, even if no one is on the road around me. It's a good habit to have, and at least no one can be uncertain of *my* intentions. Pick up a candy bar wrapper on the sidewalk; smile at the checker in a store when it is my turn; let the other person go first in a crowded area: little things make a much bigger impact on the world than big ones usually do, and I can do dozens of little things every day. And there is volunteer trail maintenance, which is my "big" thing, although I've not done nearly enough of it recently. I realized long ago that if I can make the world in my little bailiwick better, I'm getting to be a better person. Certainly, volunteering to work on a trail goes a lot better for me if I have lost some weight, so it is all of a piece :-)
As for this blog, yeah, please write some more. I'll read it all. I'll even try to respond. And yeah, it might be cool to get a photo on the Popular page on 365 - I wouldn't know, as none of mine get close - but you know that the folks who follow you enjoy your work, and their opinion counts for a lot more, anyway. Who cares what Ross and his "pets" think, anyway?
I blogged today about resolutions as well. I don't buy them. I try and set some goals I feel I can complete and go from there.
ReplyDeleteThe writing part, I hear you. As somebody who has written for a living, sometimes I don't have it. Blogging can be tough at times, so I've been trying to take part in some challenges in hopes of getting fodder for the blog. I'd like to make sure I blog at least 300 times this year. Last year, I just realized, I finished with 299. So close.
I'll be bookmarking you and checking back. Now that I've found your newest blog!