Happy new year pop pickers! I hope your bells were jingled, your halls decked with boughs of holly, and your merry gentlemen rested.
So it’s that time of year when we make resolutions about things we’d like to do over the coming year (which we then utterly fail to achieve), make predictions about the year ahead that are either so obvious they’ll blatantly come to pass (or so inaccurate we ignore the fact we ever made them), and make top-10 lists of upcoming bands, artists, films etc.
Although this blog was very much personal writing (and links) between 2000 and 2004, since relaunching in 2007 I’ve mostly kept the indulgent personal stuff out. Until now, so apologies dear reader, but this is a thoroughly indulgent personal post, written primarily for my own benefit, in the hope that by committing to these publicly, I might feel guiltier about failing to stick to them.
So, what do I hope 2010 will bring? Apart from the obvious stuff like world peace, an end to world hunger, and the Apple tablet, selfishly these are the things I’d like to try and do more (or less) of over the next 12 months:
Take more pictures
[ photo courtesy ben terrett ]
I love how Tom and Tom’s Noticin.gs game encourages you to pay more attention to the world around you. Capturing those random noticings makes you so much more aware of your surroundings. I also really really liked Ben’s Flickr 366 project, whereby he tried to take a photo every day of the year. And they’re awesome.
I’ve got a camera on me at all times. I’ve got some lovely apps (incl. Best Camera, CameraBag, QuadCamera, Hipstamatic, TiltShiftGen) to indulge myself with. So now I just need to actually take more photos.
Take back control of my health
[ photo courtesy ]
I have a bit of a dodgy back. I smashed it up a long time ago, and ended up having surgery to remove big chunks of my spine a few years ago. It’s loads better than it was, but still very painful to sit for long periods of time. So to keep the pain under control, and be less reliant on medication, I have to try and manage my lifestyle. Less sitting (so less time sitting at my desk), more core & strength training, generally taking better care of myself.
I didn’t manage my health very well in 2009. Lots of pain and lots of medication and not ending up in a very good place. I don’t want to repeat this in 2010. This year I’m determined to take back control – and stop letting my pain control me.
Do More (Good) Shit
[ photo courtesy ]
It might sound trite, but the School of Life’s How to Live Well in 2010 has some pretty sound advice:
Work to live, don’t live to work. Cleanthes, who was a Stoic philosopher and also known as the water-carrier, worked by night so that he could do philosophy by day. He was clear that he would work enough, and only enough, to support his real passion, the thinking and writing. His story is timely, for in a year that will be marked by more job insecurity and credit crises, it will be even easier to work so hard that you miss what you want.
Talking about getting a better work/life balance is par for the course, and I can’t disagree with that as a lofty goal. But it’s not just about fewer late nights and taking work home. For me, it’s about trying to stem the bloat of infobesity – enjoy the stream, the feeds, the tweets and so on, but realise that you can’t consume it all, and it’s not helpful to try to.
Streamlining what I do on-screen and doing more good shit off the screen. Great, wonderful real life stuff to feed the heart and mind. Fixing up our first house and making a home (and a new life) together. Hear more inspirational people speak. Actually attend the exhibitions I want to see. Get back into going to the theatre more. See more live comedy. Enjoying this fantastic city I’m lucky enough to live in.
There’s loads of other things big and small – from the obvious ones like getting fitter and eating better, to the random ones like listening to more podcasts and getting my robot tattoo (although I still haven’t decided on this one!). But I’m hoping that committing to them like this will give me the boost to actually stick to them. Roll on 2010…
Hey. Very doable things, and things that really should be on my list as well…if I bothered to make one! Attending exhibitions I want to see is something I should especially pay attention to – Decode even, as you mentioned. And stemming the bloat of infobesity – ugh. that’s number one. I get a bit depressed now and then with not being able to read everything in my feed reader!
Happy new year!
happy new year katy! probably the best approach is to buy yourself an apple tablet when it’s released…it’s the first, most logical step to helping you achieve all your goals for 2010 ;)