2013 plans

There's a blizzard going on outside. It is going on outside my big beautiful window. MY window. In MY apartment that I live in all on MY own. I really love it. It's tiny and cute but it can fit all my baking pans, shoes, my piano, and knitting baskets..... so, what else does a girl need.
I love hanging out here and I am trying really hard to learn how to relax in 2013. I know a lot of people don't think relaxing is an art but it is and it is an art form I am really, really bad at.
A few weeks ago I was sitting at a coffee shop with one of my best friends, Lindsay, who knows me well! I told her, "in 2013 I am not starting that PhD program or studying for GREs, I'm not running the Boston marathon, or accepting the adjunct position at a university near me. I am going to learn how to BE this year and I am going to just live my life." Linds let out a little scream and said, "THATS AMAZING AND I AM SOOOOOO PROUD OF YOU."
Friends and family who know me well, know that to not do something is much more difficult for me than to do it. I am a doer, I win, I achieve, I conquer, I set goals and then I work or train and I reach those goals. Linds was excited for me because she got it, she understood that I have taken on a much more difficult challenge this year than accomplishing a whole bunch of things. I am trying to not make a list.
Turns out, life isn't about making lists and crossing things off that list just as fast as they are recorded. I kinda think it is more about being in those special moments.
I had Maiya and Haven visit me overnight a few weeks ago. I was sitting on the bathroom floor talking to them while they played in the bath. While we were hanging out I realized they have the ability to just do one thing. I really don't think Maiya or Haven were thinking about school on Monday or what we would eat for lunch or what outfit they would choose after the bath...... nope. They were just taking a bath and that was the only thing happening in that moment for them. Beautiful.
I was jealous.
I want to be more present and so for 2013 I am practicing the art of relaxation. I've never been good at it and so I will learn how to be good at it this year. My new years resolution is to smile more, take more baths, read novels, bake more, and seriously take life down a notch.

(ok so I'm not like a dud or anything.... of course! So....I am presenting at a National Education Conference in Baltimore this month and studying French in Paris for 4 weeks this summer...... so I'm going to be like a boring person or anything..... stuff is still going to be super rad!!! Just trying to not take on as much as I normally do! So keep the fun coming, just not too much at once!)

So here's to 2013..... the year of living life and not just doing life!!