Admissions and suggestions from this year, no-nonsense-Dawg style:
I'm officially done with resolutions. I try, actively and regularly, to be a good person, and have come to see and believe that that's cool. Who the eff wants to start a new year with so much pressure, for the love? Like, January 1- GO!
No: I'm just gonna cook my good luck meal for my family and get on with it.
More than ever I believe in travel. For culture, language, for a restaurateur, for an actor, for a vision, whatever. Go, experience, be uncomfortable, live. Try to speak the language. Any of it. When in Rome...
Read. Keep reading. Read what you like and also what makes you squirm. Ask yourself why it makes you squirm. Be willing to answer your questions to self.
If you want to pee in your pants laugh and also think, run -don't walk- to your nearest bookstore and buy (and read):
Hyberbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
If you want to consider and contemplate something in a new light, read:
Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson
All Joy and No Fun, by Jennifer Senior
How To Be a Woman, by Caitlin Moran
I hated the movie Boyhood. Hated it. Hated that kid actor who spent 13 years growing up in ungainly and unlikeable fashion while some man director relived and glorified his youth from behind the camera. A.O. Scott, you lost your mind. Lost it. I'm cool with this assessment.
Reconsider your beliefs about nutrition and health. I once believed that butter, olive oil and sugar were spawn-of-Satan foods. I now believe, firmly, that they aren't. I now also believe, firmly, that I am right. Eat. Real foods. Enjoy them. Alone or with others. Don't do fake, processed shit. It'll come back to bite you in the ass.
Stand for something. Unabashedly.
Lightweight: I still dislike morel mushrooms and persimmons. End of story. I'm not trying any more.
Heavyweight: White privilege and racial bias are real. I will continue to educate myself and do what I can to support and change.
If you need help, seek it: from those whom you know will help, from those who have offered to be a shoulder and even from folks you don't know well. You'll be surprised not only by those who are stingy but more so by all those who are generous and wonderful.
Try to emulate the person you wish to meet. Or always like to see. There's a reason certain folks are appealing. Don't negate your Self, but consider just what about others draws you to them.
Have a crush. It's enlivening. You know I know Benedict doesn't know I exist, right? ;)
In 2015, I'm writing what I believe, experience and feel. Life is short.
I lovehate Facebook and am no longer willing to stress about Pinterest or Twitter. If this slays me re: blog traffic, so be it.
If you appreciate candor and honesty about everything, even when you don't agree, follow me on Em-i-lis and/or Facebook. I appreciate your consideration and welcome your perspective!
And, if you love my cat and/or my photos from airplane window seats, follow me on Instagram.
