Resolve

Links to this and every other picture on my Pinterest

I've never been particularly dedicated to these things. I suppose I'm not alone. But I've always been a goal-setter; needless to say, the clash with my laissez faire attitude to execution has caused some problems. But I set them, and for once I think I'm actually going to take steps to make these happen.

I think I'm particularly motivated this year because my 2012 was not sensational. Had some excellent times (I mean, I visited London for the first time in my waking memory), but still not great. Most of the year was soaked up by constant stresses -- mostly assessment-related. Actually, on a side note, I'm thrilled to say that I got a score that was much higher than I honestly expected (no modesty, truly; just an English course structure that suited me to a t and an History of Revolutions exam that didn't ask awkward questions about the Russian Civil War) and ought to be getting some good news when university offers come out. I'll keep you posted.

What I'm trying to say is that 2012 changed me. Significantly. I'm a lot more mature than I was this time last year and I'm beginning to figure out the kind of person I want to be. I've been looking forward to 2013 for a good long time now and can honestly say that this is a year of change. And I look forward to it, although it scares unnameable things out of me.

Enough of this cheesiness. I'm going to write up my resolutions (a few days late, I admit) for all the world to see. This time next year I can look back on them and see which I kept, which I didn't and how I fared overall. Which actually brings me to my first goal...

Keep blogging over 2013. This is a big one. Writing is my passion, and it's what I want to do for a living. What's the point of having that dream if I can't keep a blog alive? (I guess we'll never know if I don't make it to a review of the year that was.) This is my way to breaking into the kind of community I want to be in; it's my portfolio and my scratchboard and my ego inflator. I get the feeling I wouldn't be thrilled with myself if I didn't continue. So, quite simply, I will.

Learn to use your lovely birthday camera. A nonsensically long time ago, a friend mentioned that I should try photography because I'd probably have a pretty decent eye. I've wanted to be a (hobbyist) photographer ever since. Writing is beautiful, and I love to take pictures with words -- I love the way you can twist them and double them back upon themselves. But my chief high school regret is not taking Photography. (It was a really popular class so I shunned it. Honestly, self of 2009.) So now that I'm in possession of what photography forums generously refer to as "a DSLR for the photographically retarded" (their words, not mine) it's time to get serious. I will know what those weird little switches do and I will figure out what bokeh actually is.

Read (and understand) the backs of packets. On a completely different tangent, I'm sick of ingesting things that bleach floors. This was brought on by a co-worker filling me charmingly in on what goes into delicious things like Hershey's Cookies and Cream bars. Not to mention the metal-infused oil of Reese's Pieces. O! to be introduced to wonders of US produce, only to have it cruelly snatched away! That said, I'm still going to treat myself; I'm hardly going to turn into one of those weird women with hair in unexpected places, burning effigies of Thickening Agent 749e. Now that shopping for myself looms on the horizon, I'm making a serious effort to avoid, you know, mercury.

Dress like your wardrobe implies you do. And now for the really scary one. Did you know, dear readers, that I own (amongst other things) an orange kimono, two 1940s skirt-suits and plum lipstick? Of course you don't, because these things are languishing in my closet. I buy them because they are lovely and then never wear them because it's hard to break a mould. And the hats! And the gloves! And the pearls! I read so many inspirational blogs and see so many fashionable ladies, but I can't bring myself to do it. No more! After a Harem of Peacocks/Bright Young Twins binge, I feel inspired. This is going to be the hardest, but I have little doubt that it will also be the most rewarding.

Enough of this emotional nonsense. Hello, 2013; may you be only good things!