Last year around this time, I vowed to exercise more (didn't happen), write more creatively (I did ok, but I can do better) and to clean out my refrigerator. The only reason I think I actually accomplished that last one completely is because I moved from my old apartment.
The one resolution I kept perfectly, oddly enough, was keeping track of the books I read in 2012. I read so quickly that most of the time (although many do stand out) I can't remember all the books I read in a year, so I decided to record each of them in a spare journal. I was so good about it, in fact, that even when I didn't have the journal with me, I would jot down the start date of a book on a piece of scrap paper and then use it as a bookmark, recording it dutifully in the journal once I got home. The answer is 61, by the way, the number of books I read (two I haven't finished and will carry over into 2013). Some were fantastic. Others went immediately into the donation bag. But now at least I'll remember them all.
Anyway, 2012 wasn't one of those years that will go down on the record books for me as being completely phenomenal. I worked a lot. In fact, I probably worked more than I did anything else. There's something to try and change for 2013: finding more balance so work doesn't consume my life.
So while I wouldn't call 2012 the most fabulous year of my life, it was far from the worst. I got to spend time with family and friends, I took a lovely vacation to Georgia and North Carolina (a state I'd never done more than drive through before October), and I got a new roommate after years of living by myself. But as I sat here trying to recall some of the year's higher points (beyond those I've already noted), I was kind of drawing a blank. I'm sure there were many moments that I've forgotten. I should start journaling again in 2013...
But even if I don't journal more, I think I might have found an alternative. On Facebook yesterday, one of my friends posted a good New Year's idea (as with many things on Facebook, she'd shared it from someone else's wall, so I can't take any credit for it): every time something joyful happens -- big or small -- write it down on a piece of paper and put it in an empty jar. That way, at the end of 2013, you can open the jar, read the notes and be reminded.
So I think I'm going to do it. The writing things down worked so well with the books, why not try it with joyful events? Besides, I always have scrap paper handy, and I already have a jar. :)
"In thanksgiving for the time that has been, in hope for the time that is to come,"
Happy New Year!
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