New Beginnings

New Year's is my least favorite holiday.

I realize such a statement makes me sound incredibly boring- who doesn't want an annual excuse to wear crazy hats, explode fireworks, and drink until you puke? In my case, it's a strong dislike of hangovers more than a strong dislike of hats and fireworks which puts me off. But I think what bothers me the most is, like birthdays, New Year's Day is a petulant reminder that I'm not getting any younger, that I probably have more wrinkles, and that there's less time for me to do all the things I want to do in life before I die.

And now that I've established myself as both dull and morbid, I will tell you one thing I do like about New Year's Day. Making lists.

We all do it. With each new year comes our new list of goals. In notebooks, iPhones, and blog posts, we itemize the things we want to do and the things we want to stop doing during the next year. There are the common resolutions: exercise more, eat less, read more, watch less TV, quit smoking. Others make it a point to reconnect with a family member or to forgive someone. Or simply to be more compassionate, more loving.

Of course the majority of us run out of steam long before the next batch of New Year's resolutions and fall back into old habits before Valentine's Day. I am no different. One year during college, I made a resolution to do twenty sit-ups every evening and I'm not sure I made it past one week. But never mind whether a resolution quickly fades into a weak intention; it's better to aim for self-improvement. So on New Year's Eve, when I was on the couch at my husband's house in Denmark - we skipped partying as we were both ill- I punched out a list to tackle in 2010.

It was surprising and a little disconcerting to see that I could come up with twelve goals for myself in about twelve seconds. I set tangible goals and intangible goals, ranging from easily attainable to challenging. In the easy bin, drinking less coffee. In the difficult bin, worrying less.

My resolution relating the most to this blog is to write more. In the past six months, I've settled into a new apartment in Mumbai. It was not easy, and I wish I had recorded my feelings as I dealt with culture shock and the not-so-funny-now-but-will-be-funny-later experiences of an expat new to India. Traveling to the United States in September, to Bali in October, to several locations in India in November, and to Denmark in December were also blog-worthy topics. In October, I took on a two month assignment to write a guide about expat life in Mumbai which was extremely time consuming but also good fodder for journaling and blogging.

In 2010, I want to make sure that traveling and other writing projects don't get in the way of personal reflections. If you've set a resolution or two or twelve, then I wish you luck with being consistent and meeting your goals. Happy New Year.