Starting Over-Goals Revisited

Yeah, I know, it's been approximately 27 years since I've updated this thing. Oh well, what can I say? My life happens, I get lazy.

So, one of the very first posts I made on this fantastical blog of love and magic was regarding my goals for the summer. I'm less than proud to report that the moment I committed those thoughts to writing, they flew out of my mind, and for a while there I really lost my way. Maybe it was easier not to blog because I can't lie on this thing. Fingers just won't type the untrue words.

The good news is, I'm willing to try again. That's the real message of the new year. I got into a discussion with this man a few weeks ago about what and what does not constitute a New Year's Resolution, capital "R". But the truth is, I think both of us were missing the point. The NYR isn't about what you decide to do, what not to do, it's not about where it originated, it's not even really about how good you are at sticking to it. The point is that New Year fills us with hope. It's the one time of year that nothing is too shameful, no mountain is too big, no goal seems unattainable. We all feel ambitious about our potential for renewal, and even though the concept of the New Year's Resolution, capital "R" may be silly, the hope it brings isn't.

So that's my goal for the year, bloggers. I'm going to try to be true to myself. I'm going to keep the hope, and realize that just because renewal doesn't always go the way you plan, it doesn't mean you can't try again. I wish all of you luck and my dream is that you all can find that excitement for renewal all year.

All my der will come ter...

With Spring Break and Children of Eden over, and the summer looming on the horizon, I've decided that it's time to set some life goals. That way, come August, I can have a beer (non-alcoholic of course ;) ) and see how spectacularly I have failed.

Not that I hope to fail, but now when I work it out, it will be a nice surprise, right?

1. Figure out the school situation
I left Ball State at the end of the Fall '08 semester, for several reasons that I'll probably write about in a future post, but suffice to say I needed things to come to a halt for a spell. Still reeling, but I think this has turned out to be a good decision for me. I'm not worried about the extra time it's going to take to finish up, I just really needed to think, think, think. Admittedly, I've kept myself pretty busy to avoid doing this, so this really must happen over the summer. Should I go back? When? If not, what am I going to do instead?

Which leads me to...

2. Figure out the perfomance thing
More than one person on more than one occasion has mentioned to me that I should move to the city (New York or Chicago) and audition for things, and then decide what, if anything, I want to go back to school to do. I'm nowhere near being financially ready to do this yet on a permanent basis, but the thought is ever tempting. Even if i don't move, I know it's time to move on from community theatre. Not knocking, it's just I know I want more. Also, I want to get really serious about my songwriting and I need to start figuring out how to do at least semi-regular gigs/performance opportunities/MONEY.

Which segues quite nicely into...

3. Money. Learn how to hold on to. Enough said.

4. Guys
Not so much getting one, but making myself okay with not having one. I have learned recently that I'm not of the friendly-beneficial persuasion. In other words, to me, there is no such thing as "no strings". It doesn't exist. Exploring is fine, but let's not call it what it's not.

5. Weight
Lose it? Maintain it? This is at the bottom of the list for a reason-I'm not really concerned about it, but who doesn't want to fit into a smaller dress size? We'll see what happens. I mean, something's gotta drop if I'm chasing a 5-year-old all summer, right?

This can happen. Absolutely.