Resolution
Main Entry: res·o·lu·tion
Pronunciation: "re-z&-'lü-sh&n
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English resolucioun, from Anglo-French or Latin; Anglo-French resolucion, from Latin resolution-, resolutio, from resolvere
1 : the act or process of resolving 2 : something that is resolved <made a resolution to mend my ways>
synonym see COURAGE
2007
The rest of you bloggers are putting me to shame, posting all these wonderful ideas about New Year’s resolutions. I really have had a resolution post in draft form since the first of the year (no, really!), but I wasn’t able to quite commit myself to it so there it still sits…
But now that the first week of January is careening out the door, I thought it seemed the time was right to finally make a pronouncement on my own resolutions for 2007. So, here goes.
Bluestalking Reader’s 2007 Resolutions:
(You are all my witnesses!)
1. Workout/get exercise 3-5 times weakly weekly.
2. Make a concerted effort to eat a better diet, re-learning all I used to know about nutrition but have conveniently “forgotten.”
3. Put time and renewed effort into cleaning/clearing out unneeded items from my home, selling/donating/throwing away what’s just creating clutter in my home and life, ONCE AND FOR ALL.
4. BALANCE, BALANCE, BALANCE – stop overloading my schedule and take a really hard look before I agree to take on new tasks.
5. Prioritize my time between my various creative interests, again making sure to achieve more BALANCE, BALANCE, BALANCE.
6. Organize all aspects of my life better, so I don’t forget so many things. If it takes purchasing a PDA, purchase a PDA!
7. Indulge more of my artistic interests in drawing/painting/photography. Either take classes or set aside time for those pursuits.
8. Re-educate myself on things I’ve forgotten. Try to learn/re-learn something new every day.
9. Never discount the possibility of forming new resolutions as I go along.
Reading Resolutions
A lot of bloggers have made very specific resolutions as to reading, and this is something I’ve given some thought to, but aside from maintaining variety between fiction and non-fiction genres, I really have no firm resolutions in this area. I’m happy with my reading quantity, so really all I want to do is keep up what I’ve been doing. I’d like to do some longer term author studies, though. These are the authors I’d like to study in more depth:
1. Charles Dickens
2. Virginia Woolf
3. William Faulkner
4. Thomas Hardy
5. Edith Wharton
6. Mark Twain
7. Victorian period genre study
8. Southern U.S. literature regional study
9. Early 20th century genre study
Of course, I wouldn’t do all of these at the same time! I don’t think I can even do all of this in the same decade, but I do want to eventually study all of these areas. In the midst of all this, though, I aim to keep on top of what’s new and up and coming.
I don’t ask for much, do I?
So, that’s it. I’m late out the gate but I have been standing behind the fence, observing while everyone else has been formulating their very thought-provoking resolutions. I aim to kick off in full force next week, allowing myself a sluggish start as it’s a very human tendency.
Best wishes to everyone else on your 2007 resolutions. I’d love to hear how you progress through the year, and I’ll try to report back on my successes/failures, as well.
Best of luck to us all!
Bluestalking 
Using the blog and the idea of posting updates to my uberlist goals is one of the ways that helps me maintain some accountability to my goals. Otherwise it really is too easy to forget and push them aside!
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I haven’t shut my gate yet!
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I’ve deliberately avoided making resolutions this year as I know they usually push me into trying to do too much and as all I really want at the moment is to get well doing too much isn’t going to advance that very far. But I think I might be joining you in the reading of Edith Wharton. The advent of the new biog is definitely going to push me that way.
By the way, The Bears are well made up about getting a mention in your side bar. If I’m not careful they’ll be wanting their own blog and then we’ll all have to look out.
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Carl, and it also tells the world what you mean to do. The added social pressure can be a really good motivating factor, because it’s so much more embarrassing failing publicly (even though I do it all the time!).
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Jenclair: Just be careful what wanders in while the gate’s open!!
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Ann, that’s one thing about bears. They’re such sensitive, creative beings underneath all that fur! Best to just try offering them a “guest blog” opportunity before they try taking over the place. For one thing, you’d have honey all over the keyboard…
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You do not need to list all you want to do. Just concentrate on Nos 4 and 5 in your first list and all else will follow. I have deliberately not set myself too many unobtainable targets as when I fail to reach them I get irritated with myself, so as my life coach friend always says, ‘small things, small steps, one at a time, no rush’
and she is right!
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Elaine, I know you’re right and I need to stop feeling I need to grab things so tightly and that things can’t go on without me… That would be a huge step forward for me and would likely lead to a lot of other good things.
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Re: 8, Southern Lit. There is an anthology that I just picked up, _New Stories from the South: 2006, the Year’s Best_. This annual compilation has been underway since 1986 but was a new discovery for me. Some of the older volumes contain stories by familiar writers, i.e. Bobbie Ann Mason, Rick Bass, but in this latest volume, Wendell Berry is about the only one I recognize. This book was on one of the Best of 2006 lists, and the idea of short stories is less daunting than, say, a survey of the great novelists of the American South.
I’ll be looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this portion of your reading list. My regional fiction this year will be mostly of the American West.
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