on being thirty-twelve*

looking at the year ahead and the year behind. i always feel like doing that on my birthday. i made a list last year of the things i wanted to do. i didn't publish it here because it felt a bit like some of the items were too frivolous and some were too serious. but i've referred to it off and on, just for myself. in a way it's a bit like the new year's resolutions that i don't really make, it's just at the beginning of a new year of the calendar of ME. i did some of the things and others, i wonder why i even put them there. but as i wrote last year, it somehow seems like the act of putting things down on paper is what matters. it helps you to envision how you want things to be. and that's surely a healthy thing to do.

this year, in the face of daily news of global economic crisis (GEC), i feel much more ready to pare down and live more simply. we really have all that we need, so there are no big purchase needs on the horizon (let's face it, i don't really NEED an 8,000DKK espresso machine). i want to be better at using all of the veggies that come in my weekly organic box. i want to eat less meat. i want us to use the car less. i'm not really ready to say we shouldn't have one at all, but we should park it more and use our bikes and the trains. (it's a bit easier to say that as the weather gets warmer and more spring-like). i don't need any more additions to my stash. i could craft for an entire year without buying anything at all and still have something left over. so, these are the things i'm going to work on during the year ahead . using what we have and not acquiring anything new. i think i'm really ready to do that this time.

*i don't really mind turning 42, so the thirty-twelve reference is just to be funny.