Looking ahead to 2011...

On my retired blog I wrote a post about three things I wasn't inviting to follow me into 2011. One was negativism, another was Facebook & the third was other people's rules. I had already changed my mind about Facebook & fully intended on inviting it to usher in 2011 with me. But for some reason it banned me from inviting my friends back to my friends list... something about "inviting too many people I didn't know" (why would I do that??!!). Then, I logged-in on Wednesday night & all the folks I had managed to get back on my friends list were gone! Vanished into thin air & I'm back to having the original 8 kids-neighbors-friends I had started with, on my friends list. So I'm taking that as a sure sign that I'm supposed to stick to my original "not welcoming into 2011" list.... which included Facebook.

Now that I've got the short "not following me into 2011" list finished, I've been really concentrating about the other list... the "things I am inviting back for 2011" list. This may also include things that have never seen the light-of-day in my life but really do want to see present... either for 2011 only or maybe forever. Who knows. Anyway, here's my list of invited things for 2011. Do you recognize any that you would like to follow you into 2011 as well? I bet you do! That's what makes us blogging buddies! That's what makes you come here & read my blog.... because we have ideas, thoughts, beliefs, goals, hobbies, interests in common.

Or maybe you just like to hear what I have to say? That would be an honor if that was the case. You surely will find an eclectic cornucopia of topics discussed here, that's for sure. I'm pretty passionate about what I believe in & I'm old enough to know what I believe in too. My causes are well-rooted in my heart. But causes are not what's going to be on my "invited things for 2011" list. It's other stuff...things that might have been lacking in my life, things that might be non-existent right now in my life, things that I had forgotten about but want to un-forget about for 2011. Let's see what they are (in no particular order):


1. Art-creativity-hobbies: I've read in various outlets that nurturing the artist in ourselves is good for keeping our brain sharp & our mental well-being in a positive state. For his doctoral thesis, psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi studied how visual artists create art & he found that not only artists deeply involve themselves in their work but so does everyone who is concentrating & intent on whatever they're doing... surgeons, chess players, rock climbers, dancers, musicians. Dr.Csikszentmihalyi found they all "forget themselves, the time, their problems" while engaging in their activity. That's why hobbies are so important in our lives, it seems to me. Anytime we are being artistic... letting our creativity juices flow... we are forgetting about our problems for awhile, therefore having a temporary respite from them. This probably makes our adrenaline pump slow down, our blood pressure decrease, our muscles relax, as well as giving us some right-sided brain exercise. I need much more of this in my life than has been present for a long long time. I intend on inviting my hobbies (some known & maybe some not developed yet) back into my life for 2011.

2. Time in actual reality: I can hear a lot of you reading this saying "Yessssssss". I think we're all in the same boat regarding our immersion in cyber reality. How did that start... do you know? I remember when we got our first computer & became connected to cyberspace. It was 1996 & I distinctly remember not believing my eyes in how fast information came on my screen & not understanding where it was coming from! From that very first day forward a certain percentage of my day has been spent in cyber reality... a percentage of my day in actual reality sacrificed - exchanged - reassigned... to a tan box with a screen. Lest I make it sound like cyberspace has been a total negative in my life, let me assure you it has not. Far from it!! I have connected with some of the most amazingly awesome people I have ever encountered or would have ever encounter otherwise, on this little two acres of mine out here in the woods. Blogging fits right up there with #1 above in allowing me a creative, artistic outlet & I wouldn't trade it for the world. But I have allowed the tan box, which is now updated to black, to overtake entirely too much of my actual reality & I'm sacrificing way too much because of that. I need more of a balance in my life & I need to reconnect once again with the actual reality things in my life... the things that were all I had before 1996. I've missed them & I want to embrace them once again.

3. Playing in the dirt: I love... completely, with my whole body & soul... dirt - nature - Mother Earth - trees - wind - sky - the changing seasons - sun on my skin - working outside - getting filthy, sweaty & sore - birds chirping - hearing squirrel nails against the bark of a tree - colorful things growing - lawn mowers mowing - grills grilling - clouds rolling in - storms coming... absolutely positively everything about outside I love. I didn't get enough of that in 2010 but that's definitely going to change in 2011. I can't survive without that change.

4. Home improvements: I do my housework each & every week but I (we?! my man & I?!) haven't been keeping up with home improvements... those little (& sometimes big) things that need to be done or they pile up so badly that it then takes thou$and$ of dollar$ & hundreds of hours to make the pile disappear. The kitchen sink & faucet in our side of the house needs to be replaced... many rooms need a fresh coat of paint... some carpet needs to be ripped up & some other flooring put down... and the list goes on. I want to do a few of those things in 2011. I want to notice a few of those things more, in 2011, than I did in 2010 (or 2009 or 2008 or 2007 or....). I think in this category also falls "decluttering". I started that this year but I intend to continue in 2011. Isn't FreeCycle the most wonderful thing?! :-)

5. National/International News: I'm staying out of it in 2011. No DrudgeReport, no CNN, no nothin'. I've decided I don't need to know our nation's or our world's problems. I've got enough of my own. I fully intend on spending 2011 being clueless about everything being played out on the news. If you readers think there's a crisis or calamity I really ought to know about, for my own safety or the safety of my loved ones, put it in the comments somewhere, ok? Thanks. :-)

6. Delving into the interior of myself: Sounds complicated, doesn't it. It does to me too. I think it's just because I don't quite understand what it means but others do & I want what they have - know - can do. No, it's not just reading the Bible & it's not just going to church & it's not just "making time for God" each day & it's not just following rules and regulations & it's not just ______ (fill in the blank yourself). It's much more than that... but I'm not sure what "that" is or how to get there. By the end of 2011 I hopefully will though. I'll share my journey here, on the pages of my blog. Maybe you'll learn to delve into your innards too, if you have such a desire & don't know how already.


That's it. Double the number of things I'm bringing with me into 2011 than I'm leaving behind in 2010. I wonder if that means something?

Probably not.