Tales from the Cob

first post of 2009! January 6, 2009

Usually my ability to follow through on New Year’s Resolutions are god awful, but that is why this year, I am posting them here to keep me accountable. I think I’m the kind of person who needs the occasional nudge/inspiration/threat to be reminded of things and propel me in the forward direction again. Well, I also like the idea of being able to get a fresh start on self-improvement and making progress on my life’s to-do list. As Deshi said, the new year is the ultimate clean slate! So here goes…I was trying for “more practical/reasonable” but I don’t know how well that went *See Resolution 2.

{1} Improve on my photography. I want to enter the dps forum competitions for practice and to get feedback. Also, attempt to scrape together a kind of photo blog. Definitely NOT “a photo a day” because we all know how that went…that’s right, it didn’t. But something fairly regular to track my (hopeful) progress. So, if anyone wants me to photograph something… anything that moves for them, I will do it!

{2} I want to be a nicer person. Not one of those fake nice people who maintain niceness on the outside, but are still condescending and disdainful on the inside. I want to genuinely see the nice side of people and when people or friends ask for help, I want to really try my best to help them. It’s not that I didn’t before, but there were definitely times when I did things more out of guilt or obligation than anything else. If it’s within my abilities, I will try. There were times when my mom asked me to help her type out a few emails or help her friend’s son with his essay and I’d get annoyed at this interruption and make it seem like it was a huuuggeee inconvenience and just generally be a pain in the ass when it’s something really small that I could easily do for her, considering all she’s done for me. And also because in the past few months, I’ve met some really cool people who’ve inspired me to follow in their footsteps and I’ve noticed that one of their commonalities is their willingness to go out of their way to help/advise someone they barely know. True, it’s easier to be generous when its in your area of expertise or what you’re passionate about, but it’s still your time and I don’t believe everyone is like that. Working at Lame Workplace has emphasized that I think. Niceness/generosity is also one of the traits I admire the most, because it’s a decision, I think. Not like wealth or success or smarts…Ok, those are also sometimes decisions, but there are a lot of other factors/luck thrown in and they don’t mean anything without niceness. Ok, enough preaching. Besides, I figure, I will need all the good karma I can get, and if what goes around truly comes around, then maybe I will be able to make a living by the time I’m 50. Since “nice” is a horribly vague word, I guess what I want to is to be more patient and giving and work on my temper. Besides, I figure, tis better to start now improving myself, while I’m still relatively young and pliable, personality-wise.

{3} Apply to grad school. Ok, real world job market, you win. I am going back to academia to wait out this recession because I don’t have enough to offer.