thoughts on the new year and on resolutions

... now that Epiphany has passed.

As previously stated, my New Years resolution is to simplify so I have more time to focus on being happy. But it's more than that, it's also about pursuing what makes me happy. I recently read Eat, Pray, Love as well as these two posts over at Unclutterer and I wanted to somehow make my resolution of happiness pursuable.

So, to that end, I've begun creating a list of goals, some SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely), some purposefully vague, towards me living a lifestyle that I currently think will make me happy. So far, a lot of those goals center around food sustainability. My garden. 'Local' eating. Less shopping, less relying on the industrial food machine. A lot of the blogs I've been reading over the past year relate to these goals (and I'll probably list them at the end of this post), so I'm well on my way towards achieving them, but also, in some senses, I'll never be done, there will always be something more to achieve. Regardless, I've started a new blog, over at wordpress (because I think the tab thingys at the top of the page are 'cooler' than what blogger has, silly, I know), to track my goals and my progress towards them.

However, that still leaves me with a gap between my goals and my resolution. I'm looking at simplifying my life so I have more time for the things I say make me happy. So the simplifying process is somehow all tied up with food, with feeding my family healthy, nutritious local, ethically raised and prepared food. Food is a chore to me. I don't really enjoy cooking, even though I do it all the time. I do love eating, and I do love feeding people. I especially love preparing food with a friend, then enjoying it together. I really love being appreciated for the food I put on the table, and feeding my kids just doesn't provide the kind of appreciation I'm looking for. (I think I need to look into communal living!) However, what makes me happy is a happy family. No whining kids. No husband sitting, staring at the tv (although this makes him happy, or so he says). Being active together. Beaches, bike rides.

So what I'm seeing is that, for me, happiness looks like friends, it looks like being active, it looks like a garden in summer. Happiness looks fresh and green and slightly out of breath.

It also looks like ease and support. For me, ease will be a goal around my academic pursuits - finishing assignments early, and whatever is in the way of that for me. I'm going to talk with a about my experience of anxiety with a counselor at my university. And support will look like redeveloping or rekindling my friendships with my girlfriends from my 20's, from before I had family responsibilities. Maybe girls' night out once a month? Maybe dinner with another family once a month? It's another one of those nebulous goals, I'll have to flesh it out as I go along :)

 UPDATED: (blogs I've been reading over the past year that relate to my sustainability goals)
fast grow the weeds
Living the Frugal Life
Subsistence Pattern
Throwback at Trapper Creek
One Straw
Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op
Not Dabbling in Normal
Surviving the Suburbs I've just started reading this one, but so far, I'm finding it excellent :)