Chill, Lady, Chill

When we make resolutions at the start of a new year, it seems most of us focus on the negative, punishing ourselves for the mistakes and faults of the previous year. Kristan Higgins, a fave author whose blog I follow, recently posted more realistic and generous resolves for herself. I like that idea.

As much as I try to fight it, I tend toward negative thinking, so my overarching resolution is to have a more positive outlook. This year I want to celebrate every stage writing/publishing progress instead of berating myself for not doing more and doing it faster. This is going to be a busy year for me. I’ll have to chill or suffer the consequences.

I want to treat myself to a long, hot bath more often. Since I often view showers as a sacrifice of too much time, a relaxing soak will be a big change for me. Freak-out: as I wrote that last sentence, two notifications pinged on my phone. One was from Google about resolutions and the other from Facebook about bubble baths! Isn’t life in the digital age a trip?

Treating my inner body better is another goal. I’m not only a lazy cook most of the time, but I love junk food. So I’m accepting the challenge of cooking more from scratch and with more organically-grown ingredients. I figure if I fill up on those foods, there will be less room for junk. Learning to eat healthier is hard for someone raised to plan every meal around meat—especially when I can’t remember a green salad ever being served by my Norwegian/German mother until years after I moved out.

Pictured above is the beautiful tea set for one that a sister-in-law sent me during my recovery from surgery last year. This year, I want to make it a habit to sit quietly once a day and sip delicious tea from that cup as I daydream amazing stories to write.

How will you treat yourself this year?