READ: Resolutions: Resolving Not To. PDF, EPUB online free reviews.

This year I resolve not to make any New Year’s resolutions.

However, this doesn’t mean that I don’t plan on making changes to my life. 2017 was a pretty shitty year, and I’d like not to have a repeat. So, as Sam Cooke would say, “Change is gonna come.” Here’s the plan:

Get involved in some activist shit. Women’s empowerment, get rid of assholes in government, march on the capital. Something! I’ve always given myself excuses not to be involved, but this is going to be a big year, and I want to be part of it. If you have ideas of how to be involved, leave them in the comments below. I’ve got a few ideas, but I’d love to hear more.

Write more. Get that novel draft finished. Send out some essays to literary mags. Keep the blog going. Writing saves my life in so many ways, and there have been times when I let it go because I was too tired, too depressed, too dysfunctional to keep going. Not this year. I will write many, many words. Clearly, congruently, and coherently. Amen.

Lose weight. Everyone says this, I know, but I have a more specific goal. Thirty pounds by the end of the year. That’s doable, right? Quit the drinking, cut down on carbs, find a way to like salads. More fish. Less chips. I can do this, and I would like you guys to hold me accountable. Pop in and ask, “Hey! How’s the battle of the bulge?” or something like that.

Do yoga. This is part of number three, but also part of staying sane. I have done all types of exercise: P90X, Beach Body, spin classes, kickboxing, etc. I used to do yoga a long time ago without really understanding how it would benefit me. It was just an ‘it’ thing to do. Now, I’d like to get into yoga for my physical and mental health. I’d like my body to feel better, but I also really need my brain to chill the fuck out before it kills me. (Jenny Lawson @thebloggess has lots to say on this last bit. If you don’t know who she is, I’m sad for you. Please check out her book, Furiously Happy. She is my hero in so many ways).

Okay, that’s my laundry list. NOT A LIST OF RESOLUTIONS! Just a list of things I’d like to get done – like the laundry (which I actually need to do today), or grocery shopping, or picking the kids up from school.

If you have a list of NOT RESOLUTIONS for the year, let me know. Maybe I’ll write a post in a few months to see how everyone’s life is getting along. In the meantime…