Thinking about the New Year

Happy 2012 everyone! I’m sorry I’ve been such a sporadic blogger over the last two weeks.

The Holidays

We’ve had lots going on (as I’m sure everyone has). First, it was madly racing to get holiday packages out the door to family and friends not living in Seattle. My dad arrived in Seattle on Dec. 15th and stayed for a week, then went down to visit his mother and brothers in Portland for Christmas. Eric and I drove down to pick him up last Friday. We had some of my favorite animal studies people over for New Years Eve, which was from 3-7ish, making it easy for me to crawl into bed well before the 12 o’clock hour.

The main reasons I have not been so good about keeping up with the blog are that I’ve had a lot of other work on the computer–namely, two major projects. Number 1, I’m teaching my very first class-designed-entirely-by-me starting tomorrow. It’s called ‘Animals, Ethics and Food: Deconstructing Dominant Discourses’ and I have 21 students registered at the moment. I’ve been scrambling to finalize the syllabus and get the reader together for the students. More on the class soon…

Number 2: I’ve been working on building a website for my sister-in-law’s new herbal pregnancy, postpartum, and baby care business. More on that as well. The website is not quite finished, but when it is, I’ll do a special post on her new business, which is awesome and many of the products are vegan.

Inking in the New Year

For about 10 years, I’ve been thinking about the same tattoo idea. It’s a full-back tattoo of a tree with two crows in it. Last March I finally found a tattoo artist in Seattle who I wanted to draw the design. I booked a consultation with her–her first available consult was not until July, so I waited patiently until July to meet her. We talked about the idea and she agreed to draw it. Then I settled into waiting for our art consultation appointment which was scheduled for Dec. 15th. I went in to see what she had drawn and it was better than anything I had visualized in my head. I didn’t have any changes to make. So yesterday, I went in for my first session. I sat for about 3 hours while she stencilled and then tattooed the outline on my back. The tattoo will probably take at least 5 sessions to finish, but I liked the idea of at least getting the outline done on the first day of the new year. More to follow on this new tattoo adventure as it develops!

Projects for the New Year

I’ve never really been a fan of New Year’s resolutions–mostly because I don’t like all the hype. There’s a flurry of New Year’s resolutions in January and then it all tends to die down and we settle back into our normal routines. Plus, all of the media hype and advertising of ‘get skinny in 2012; get fit in 2012, etc’ is pretty unappealing. That being said, there is also something that kind of inevitably creeps up at the end of each year and the beginning of the new one–an itch to be a better version of yourself in the new year. Sometimes this manifests as wanting to improve our bodies–to be healthier, more fit, maybe skinnier. Sometimes it manifests as us wanting to do more emotional work on ourselves–to be happier, more compassionate, more independent, etc. For others, it manifests in practical goals–to switch jobs, to get a raise, to have a baby, etc. There’s something hopeful about a new year starting, about giving us a chance to ‘start over’ in a small kind of way and live our lives in ways that are more in line with our values and our dreams.

I have three major projects I want to work on in this new year:

1. Body: Be healthier and stronger. I’m not sure exactly what this plan will entail yet, but it will certainly involve getting back to gym to lift those weights and do some cardio. It will involve eating more raw foods. It will involve cutting out a lot of the processed and sugar-based foods. And it will most importantly involve listening to my body and trying to give it the best care I can.

2. Spirit: Be kinder and more compassionate. I’ve got quite the temper and lately I’ve been getting pretty furious pretty regularly. I’d like to let go of this anger (wherever it may be coming from) and practice being more compassionate to everyone I encounter in my life.

3. Mind: Research for the dissertation. A very practical goal. I’ve got my dissertation research scheduled to be completed in 2012. So here goes! Another great adventure of the mind, body and spirit all together!

How are you thinking about the New Year?