Out of Fashion (I think)

I like the new year, and I like thinking about all the ways my life will be different in the coming 12 months. However, if the previous 12 months have taught me anything it is that a person never knows what direction things will flow. I wouldn't say that the last year has been about "letting go, letting God." I do think it has been about stubbornness in good and bad ways, and I daresay there is ministry in a good kind of stubbornness (perhaps we should call that "persistence," but "good stubborn" works for me). It's persistence (on my own part and especially on the part of my family) that helped me heal mentally and physically from a nasty physical injury. This was an excellent lesson of 2006.

I stopped making resolutions a long time ago, but I will say that the notion of some long-term projects (clever rebranding, no?) have been creeping around in my mind lately. I'll list some of them here, in no particular order.

-- Stop buying unnecessarily. I tried this project during April and May of last year, and it was really interesting to see that at the end of the month I had a substantial portion of my monthly income left to put into savings. Sadly, it was only a two month experiment in 2006. I'd like to try and make it a way of life in 2007. To be successful here requires that I break my retail therapy habit. Yes, it sometimes feels good to "buy something," but most of the time I certainly do not need that something. This also means that I stop buying the little things that add up--bottles of water, pens, highlighters (*gasp!*), magazines, etc.
This is a wider-scope idea than just focusing on the number of times I swipe my debit card each month. It also means taking the bus as often as possible, instead of driving. My bus pass costs money each semester, but pays off in droves when I use it. Since I will only be teaching at one institution this semester, my commute is no longer multi-directional so the bus pass will work well here.

-- Continue on the self-directed inquiry, research, and writing path. There have been some very surprising benefits from this work. I just need to do more! I'm excited about the shape my impending Master's Thesis will take, particularly since I was able to do some pertinent reading for my term paper in Film Theory and Criticism (about Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and realism in film). I'm looking forward to an Introduction to Phenomenology course I'm taking this spring, in which our main focus will be on Merleau-Ponty's The Phenomenology of Perception. I think the foundations of my major work are starting to take shape, and that is exciting.
Aligned with this idea is immersing myself more consciously in my work as a teacher. I feel like the last few semesters have just been a waiting game, waiting around for the next thing to happen. I think I'm still coming out of the having-so-much-to-do funk, that this has been an adjustment. Teaching is only good if you're paying attention for the full bore, and I (admittedly) dropped the ball and took some easy ways out last semester. I hope that as things continue in the shorter-term I'll be able to adjust to and think more critically about being a full-time teacher.

-- Take better care of myself. This means eating (which--as faithful readers know--is one of my favorite past times) a little less and better. This also means being consistent in exercise. I did well during the fall semester, but dropped off after volleyball finished on December 3. Fortunately, I'm back on campus and so near the gym this week, and volleyball starts again on Sunday. It maybe helps that this is coming up in July.
For as much as I love pop culture, there's a lot of poison in it. For example, do I really need to know about Britney Spears' adventures sans foundational garments? Or her passing out drunk at Las Vegas nightclubs? And her alleged status as a parent? I think some of it just needs to get cut out. But I will not stop watching TV, nor will I stop writing about what I watch. Maybe just being a more careful consumer of media will help my brain health. I will start just reading about Days of Our Lives though, instead of TiVO-ing it every day.

Anyway, I'm sure there are many other projects that will demand attention in 2007. What's on your list of long-term projects?