As I scuttle around the house on the very last day of my vacation (which did not go wrong and in fact was very good on a lot of different levels), cooking for the week, doing laundry, etc., it occurs to me that I am at peace beginning this January and it's all because of an awesome blog that I discovered during the last few days:
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
As often happens in these cases, I was desperate to find something to inspire me out of this funk I've been in for months on end, something to help me change my attitude, get off my butt and start living and creating again, and get organized. I don't even know how I found the site. I think it was an accident, but I have been devouring the archives for the last five days or so and I'm only in 2007 somewhere!
The blog started when the blogger, a writer (yay, writers! WE ARE COOL YES WE ARE), decided to do research and self-experimentation in pursuit of happiness. She approaches it from different angles, from current scientific knowledge to wisdom from the ages to popular culture. There is a lot of concrete advice, a lot of inspiration in just the way I tend to like it. Not overly sappy/sentimental while being concrete enough to try myself or mold it into something I could try myself. She has twelve personal commandments, the top of which is "Being Gretchen" (basically about loving and owning who she is and being authentic in that way). This is more complicated than you may think and I will talk about that another day.
So here, starting January 1, 2012, I embark on my personal Happiness Project. I know that a huge part of what makes me happy is when I think I am living up to my expectations and accomplishing personal goals (such as writing/running/etc.) and not brooding. I don't call these New Year's resolutions per se, because I hope it's not something that drizzles out in a few days, weeks, or even months. I hope it's something to hang onto when my natural tendency to be lazy and unmotivated kicks in.
And also? Not to be so stereotypical New Year's Day, but these extra holiday pounds (5 of them!!!) have to go. Farewell to the plethora of cookies, rich dips and chips, comfort food, wine, chocolate. Hello, vegetables and fruit and water and running. I've never really been on a diet that's lasted for more than two days (I get really bored by diets), so this will be interesting to see if I can last.
Anyway, I know I promised Pink Audrey a post about writing -- that will come some time this week.
Happy New Year, good friends and family! Good luck to us!
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Yay! I love the idea of your own happiness project! And dude! Give me my post. Just kidding! You know I'm not the demanding sort...hahaha! :)
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!!!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to check out the Happiness Project. It sounds pretty cool. Another place you might want to check out is Galadarling.com. She has pink hair, and she's really fantastic -- funny how those two things tend to coincide. :)
If you want to be healthy eating buddies, I really need to get back on track! I'm having a spinach smoothie today.
Audrey: I'm working on it! Happiness project = hard work, dude! :D
ReplyDeleteCake?
SS: oooh, I will check that blog out! Oh, gosh, I'm doing so well today with healthy eating. So far. I want to eat a whole pizza right now, though, yes I do! And then a whole batch of cookies!